Uncaging Alice
by OmniscientVamp
Summary: The story of Alice's time spent in the mental asylum, how she was turned, and finding family.
1. Chapter 1: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 1: William**

The sun was finally set as I slowly paced the hallway of the damp asylum. The floor was a dirty off-white, as if it hadn't been properly cleaned in years, which was slightly amusing as the building was fairly new. At the end of the hall, past the line-up of doors, the wall-length window showed the remaining reds and purples as the sun gave in to the long hours of the day.

Now, it was time to rest. I wish I could.

I had seen many sunsets and sunrises in my years, so I knew basically what to expect. Still, though, twice a day it was as if a higher being showed me a new painting. They were never exactly the same… and this one would have been beautiful had it not been for the iron bars so closely huddled behind the glass.

A small sigh escaped me as I turned and headed back to my starting point: a small desk at the beginning of the wing. There was a small light that sat at the corner, and its radiance barely reached me.

If I had been going my normal speed, I could have worn a path into the floor. But, even though I was alone as usual, I kept the slow gait of a human.

Passing the doors, on my way back to the desk, I could easily check the patients without having to near them. It was simple to pick out the sounds of sleep: shallow breathing, slight snoring, slow heart beat. Everything was fine.

It was almost hard to believe what peaceful characters these humans were at night—because they were completely opposite during the day. I only worked the day during winter seasons when it was overcast outside, for reasons known only to myself.

The day shifts were filled with the chaos of patient's erratic behavior, doctors doing tests, schedules to keep and the wards that made them impossible to adhere to. Personally, I liked keeping the order. It gave me a source of concentration. Anything distracting was good and welcome.

The only thing I hated about the day shift was the company I kept. The nurses who knew everything, saw all, and liked to flaunt it. They mostly kept to themselves, seeing as I was a man, but they didn't know I could hear everything said. The part that truly made it unbearable was the way they smelled.

Ever since I'd been turned almost a century ago, I'd had the ability to smell someone's personality or intentions. When they lied or gossiped, the nauseating stench of mold filled the air. When they were nice to me because they needed something, it was as if someone had made me swallow a sack of sugar—sickly sweet, coating my tongue and throat. Needless to say, this ability was what made it possible for me to be around humans without desiring to drink them dry. If their intentions smelled so rank, what appeal would their tainted blood have for me?

None.

I sat down at the desk. Not tired, but weary of walking the same path over and over. There were papers detailing new patients being admitted in the morning; coming to fill the empty cells in the wing. Nothing exciting, only two, it was a regular occurrence. Too regular.

The asylum was supposed to be for the incurable, and the majority was admitted with the expectation that they were only here for a short time. No one bothered to tell them this was the last stop. Often times, family would return a few days or weeks later to reclaim whoever they had shut away. Most did not need to be here, anyway. They were merely seen as a "problem"… And the asylum was mistakenly seen as a dumping ground "solution". I felt badly for some of them—especially those who were well aware they were completely sane.

But I never got close to any of them. I would never dream of befriending a patient for two reasons: One, if they learned of my gift to smell who a person really was, they would realize I should be in the asylum, caged up in a cell along with them. And two, the innocent always smelled nicer, and I could not allow any chance of a slip-up during a moment of weakness.


	2. Chapter 2: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 2: Alice**

I kept my eyes on the ground as I followed my father through the east entrance of the cold-looking building. I was sad because, though my father kept promising everything would be okay, I could not believe him.

He kept walking but turned to give an encouraging smile. "It'll be a few months at the most," he said. "Then, once you're better, you can come back home. Trust me."

I lifted my eyes slightly and looked at him through my long black hair. He was tall—not something I'd inherited—and on the thin side, his hair was as dark as mine but cropped short. He walked with confidence but I often caught a glimpse of doubt cross his face.

As he turned forward, I saw one of those moments of doubt flash through him, but it was almost immediately replaced with the confidence once more. "Good morning," he happily greeted a short nurse sitting at a desk near the entrance.

The woman smiled back, her eyes flitting between the two of us. I sighed and returned to look at the floor. "Good morning… Who do we have here?" She seemed eager to meet me but I knew it was a lie. I shifted my weight uncomfortable and switched my suitcase to my other hand.

"This is my daughter, Mary Alice Brandon." My father replied, watching as the nurse scanned a sheet of paper. He cleared his throat, "I hope we have the right building…"

"Yes dear, here she is." The nurse said, smiling again. She held out the paper and something to write with, "Just need you to fill this out."

"Oh… okay." He bent over the desk to fill out what I assumed was an admission sheet.

I looked around. The area around the entrance was clear but, peering around my father, I could see people moving down the hall. The doors lining the hall were mostly closed. A couple were open and there were people walking in twos—one obviously a nurse, the other obviously a patient.

The few patients I was able to see looked… gone. Their eyes were empty. One of them was drooling. A scream ripped through the air and I gasped, dropping my suitcase. A nurse left the patient she was walking with and rushed down the hall to one of the doors. The patient that was left behind, a slim woman with blonde hair, calmly sat down on a bench against the wall and waited, looking around. She looked relatively normal, tapping her foot slowly as she waited.

I finally looked back to my father when he came to stand in front of me. "It's going to be okay," he said for the thirteenth time.

More than anything, I wanted to speak. Say anything, plead and beg him to just take me home with him. Take me home to my mother and little sister. But I knew it wasn't worth trying. I'd already seen the way it would play out, and I knew nothing could change this future. After all, the reason my father brought me alone was so no minds would be changed.

A set of warm hands placed themselves onto my shoulders. "Of course, everything will be just fine!" The nurse had come from behind the desk and was still enthusiastic. She reached to take my suitcase but I brought it around to clutch it in front of me. Her hand fell back to her side. My father stood, looking unsure, as I continued to stare at him. "Alright, honey, let's get you settled in."

She waited for one of us to move. "Goodbye, daddy." I whispered, unable to stop the tears from clouding my sight. He took a quick step toward me but then seemed to think better of it. A short moment later, he left.

"Let's show you around, okay?" The nurse asked, taking my arm and guiding me down the hall, away from the exit. I didn't bother looking back.

We reached one of the rooms that had an open door. It was completely empty except for a bed, a small desk, and a chair. It had one window low enough to look out of if I stood on the tips of my toes, but the lack of light source made the room dark.

"You can put your suitcase under the bed, and then I'll give you a tour." The woman beside me said. I looked quickly at her name tag.

Marguerite.

After placing my suitcase under the bed, and pushing it back until it touched the wall, I rejoined Marguerite. As we walked, I could now see that there was a regular door at the end of the hall, to the left of the large window. "So, Mary, how old are you?"

She already knew but I humored her. "Nineteen…" Pausing, I decided it wouldn't hurt to make a simple request. "Please… could you call me Alice?"

"Sure, sweetheart!" She smiled back, seemingly pleased that I had spoken to her willingly. Marguerite unlocked the door and held it open for me to walk through. "I'll show you the cafeteria first, then the grounds. And I must say, you have the most beautiful long hair." She led me now towards what could only be the cafeteria. "I hope you never cut it."


	3. Chapter 3: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 3: William**

Marguerite sighed as she put her coat on, preparing to leave for the night. "Long day, William." She said. "Mona screamed quite a bit. She's sedated now, though, and she has an appointment with Dr Jenning in the morning."

I cringed inward, having inhaled and smelled how disgusting it was that she was looking forward to a patient's treatment. Mona would most likely receive electro-shock therapy, and Marguerite reeked like compost, for some reason she was glad for this. I tried my best to stop breathing. Of course, I did not need to breathe anyway, but it was just a bit uncomfortable.

When I didn't answer, Marguerite just shrugged (mostly to herself), picked up her purse, and left. She was always the last to go, since she unofficially gave herself the title of "head nurse", and the others didn't seem to care enough to object.

Alone, now, I looked at some of the paperwork on the desk, curious to know what had happened during the day. Only one of the two patients being admitted actually showed up. Not uncommon. There were notes on the filled out admission sheet. The new patient, Mary Alice Brandon, had been upset earlier. I did not need to finish reading to know they had given her a sedative.

I shook my head and pulled the local newspaper out of my coat pocket, preparing for an uneventful evening.

A couple of hours later, after having read the paper through three times, a familiar scent caught my attention. I got up from the desk and walked down the hall slightly confused. It was a mixture of citrus and orchids… I hadn't smelled that scent for almost 75 years… it reminded me of a woman I had once loved, so innocently beautiful.

For a moment, I wondered why I had not smelled it immediately when arriving, but as I got closer to the door of the room it came from, I realized the girl inside was not sleeping. She had been moving around.

I looked through the small window in the door, wondering why the sedative hadn't worked on this new patient. The girl, who I now saw was tiny with pale skin and long dark hair, was sitting on her bed with her chin resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. She looked cold but hadn't bothered to use the blanket she was sitting on top of.

Stepping back from the door, I felt glued to the spot. I was curious to know this girl, and that was strange because in those 75 years, I'd had no desire to know anyone. I couldn't have been bothered to know anyone. Going back to the window, I wondered if it was merely her smell that made me so intent on knowing her.

She didn't move at all, but I heard her whisper, "You can come in." If I had been human, I wouldn't have been able to hear her, so I wasn't sure if she meant it.

None the less, my curiosity got the better of me. The keys to the wing were in my pocket, so I pulled them out and hesitantly opened her door. Standing with the room open, I was still unable to move. Who knows what would happen just by interacting with her? I didn't want to risk any chance of danger.

The girl sighed. "It's okay," she said. "I know you won't hurt me."

Already she was interesting. How could she possibly be sure I would not hurt her… or even kill her? After a short moment, I walked in and pulled the single chair from the table against the wall and sat across from her, a good 5 feet between us. The first question that came to mind flew out of my mouth before I had time to think. "They gave you a sedative… how are you not asleep?"

She calmly unwrapped her right arm from around her legs and held out her hand, uncurling her fingers and revealing a small white pill sitting in the middle of her palm. I could tell from the look of it that the pill had been in her mouth; she had undoubtedly spit it out when the nurses weren't looking.

I laughed and she quickly pulled her arm back around herself. "Oh, I'm sorry." I tried to stop smiling, but I couldn't. It was too amusing to me that this tiny thing would disobey big, intimidating Marguerite. "I won't till anyway." I continued to smile at her.

"I know." She replied.

This frustrated me. "How do you know? How do you know I won't hurt you or won't tell? You don't know me at all."

She shrugged, glancing at me, and then quickly returning her gaze to her knees.

At that moment, I knew I should have read her entire admission sheet. I wanted to know what her problem was; why she was here. While I was thinking of how to go about asking, she spoke.

"They took my suitcase." She squeaked.

My face fell. How strange that she could affect me this way. How easily I suddenly wanted her to be happy. I lifted the corner of my mouth in an attempt to half-smile. "They do that… for your safety."

"I wasn't going to hurt anybody… I'm not dangerous." She looked up at me again. "What did they do with it?"

"I don't know," I answered. "I've never had to take one before…" We sat in silence for a few minutes, both of us barely moving. "So… Mary Alice… Why are you here?" I asked, brave enough to use the name I recalled seeing at the desk earlier.

"It's just Alice," She said, pursing her lips, distracted. Alice looked like she was having an internal battle. "I am not crazy." She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince me. And now that I looked at her more carefully, she seemed to have been having this argument with herself all day—she looked very tired.

"You should get some rest." I suggested as I got to my feet and placed the chair back at the table.

Her arms wrapped tighter around her knees and she frowned. "I can't…" She didn't say it, but I could easily see she was scared.

I took a moment to think, and as soon as the idea came to me, I knew I could get into a lot of trouble, but at the same time I did not care. "How about this… You take that," I pointed to her hand that still clutched the sedative. "You'll be able to sleep and… would it help if I left your door open? If you want, I can sit on the bench across the hall."

Alice looked upset, but nodded. "Okay."

I stayed where I was until I was sure she had truly swallowed the sedative. She finally moved so that she could lie down and pulled the covers over herself, still in the same clothes she had arrived in, ignoring the issued nightgown that remained folded at her feet.

Once she seemed settled, I left the room and placed myself on the bench that was visible from her bed. "I'm here if you need anything," I reassured.

And even with my heightened hearing, I couldn't be sure, but I thought she whispered "thank you."


	4. Chapter 4: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 4: Alice**

I fell asleep fairly quickly. It was too easy for that little pill to make me feel falsely safe enough to sleep. I would have to remember this in the future and try my best to avoid anything the nurses gave to me.

My dreams that night were so vivid, and they made me so happy, even though most parts of it were foggy. It was the sense of belonging and being loved that made the dreams so enjoyable. The scenes flew by so fast, and sometimes there was nothing to see and only something to listen to.

I saw trees under and overcast sky, a house with glass walls, six shadows in the shape of people who seemed so warm and inviting, like a family. I could hear piano music and I could smell rain and dirt. It was all so confusing and appealing at the same time.

It took a while to wake up fully, and I found the more awake I became, the more my head ached. The door to my room was closed and the sun formed a bright yellow square on the floor. As I sat on the bed, my legs stretched out in front of me, I thought briefly about the previous evening.

That man had been nice—caring, even. I had only been here for a day, but he was unlike the others in charge. The others, all women, were so strict and cold and did not put up with nonsense. A woman a couple of rooms down from me had screamed and was receiving treatment for it. They made me nervous, and I did not trust them.

But that man (his name tag had said William) was different. There was something strange about him. He was very pale and his eyes were a weird golden color I'd never seen before. He moved very fluidly and everything about him made me feel at ease.

A sudden knock at my door made me jump. Before I responded at all, the door opened and a tall red headed nurse stood in the doorway. "Good morning," she smiled. "I hope your first night here wasn't too bad. I'm Gertie, and I came to get you for breakfast in the cafeteria." I saw her eyes take in the fact that I had not changed out of the clothes I'd arrived in; a wave of annoyance flicked across her face but was gone in an instant.

"Why don't you go ahead and change into the clothes we've provided and then I will walk you to the cafeteria." She gave a placating smile and left, closing the door behind her.

I stayed still for a moment before getting to my feet and picking up the issued clothing. What I was wearing was all I had left since they took my suitcase. I did not want to give up my pink laced skirt and light blue blouse for their loose grey pants and shirt. The clothing offended me. I did, however, change into their "uniform."

Before Gertie could let herself back into my room, I folded my clothes and pressed them as flat as I could before placing them into my pillowcase.

Breakfast was uncomfortable, sitting alone, watching some women being spoon fed because they were too out of it to feed themselves. I didn't eat much and spent most of my time staring into the beige oatmeal they had handed me.

Having only time to think, I became increasingly worried about what might happen today. I knew nothing about what goes on in places like these. I was trapped in this bright sterile building and the only thing I knew for sure was that I had a meeting with a doctor later, and the only reason I knew that was because Gertie had mentioned it on the walk to the cafeteria.

Dr Gail was a small waif of a woman with black hair mixed with grey. She had lines at the corners of her eyes and was smiling even though she looked tired. I sat in a chair across from her desk, shifting anxiously while she skimmed a file she had on me. It did not take long for her to look over the file, since it was so small; a page or two.

"I see here you prefer to be called Alice," She said, more to herself than actually asking. I only nodded. "So, Alice, how are you doing so far?"Dr Gail folded her hands together and leaned forward onto her desk.

"I'm fine." I tried to sound pleasant, like I meant what I said, but she most likely had heard that from everyone.

"Do you know why you are here?" She asked.

"No." I lied.

"Well you must have some idea?"The woman tilted her head slightly to one side. She was talking to me like a child and I was becoming irritated. When I didn't answer, she straightened up and briefly looked again at the file laying flat on the desk. "It says here you were having... visions. Is that true?"

Again, I said nothing.

I noticed her jaw clench and then relax. "Alice, if you don't talk to me, I won't be able to help you."

There was a long silence while I took in the room. Aged wooden walls, a shelf with some books on it, even the frayed edges of the upholstery of the chair she sat in. And then I finally spoke, "I don't... _need _help. I feel fine."I let out a deep breath that I only just realized I had been holding in.

"Visions are not normal, not for people who are fine. Tell me about these visions." Dr Gail's cold answer came at the same moment that she noticed I had been quickly tapping my foot. "If you want, I can give you something to calm you down."

"No," I replied, having a moment of panic. "I see things... and then they come true."

"Do you think seeing things that come true is normal?" She did not wait for me to answer. "How long as this been going on?"

I shrugged, not wanting to say anything that might get me into some kind of trouble... but she was waiting. "Ever since I can remember."

Now Dr Gail sat back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap. "Tell me more about them. What do they happen? Can you control them?"

"They... they don't happen at certain times, they're random. I've never been able to control them... One time..." I paused, nervous. "One time I was thinking about something and got a vision about it..."

"Really," She seemed actually interested now. "Tell me about the most recent vision."

"My sister and I were planning to go to the park. I was thinking about it and I saw her fall out of a tree..." I inhaled deeply, remembering how upset everyone had been. "The next day we went and she climbed a tree when my back was turned. I guess I turned back just in time to see her fall. She broke her arm."

"How did that make you feel, seeing that happen?"

I tried my best to not let the tears rise up into my eyes but I could not stop them when they began to fall down my face. "I saw it coming. I should have been able to stop it. Cynthia broke her arm because of me."


	5. Chapter 5: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 5: William**

I needed to feed—I was sure of that. If I didn't before going into work tonight, who knew what would happen when being in such close proximity to Alice. She smelled so familiar and my urge to protect her sometimes wavered when remembering the night before.

Walking through the woods a few miles away from any homes or buildings, I looked for any large animal that would do. I moved as smoothly as I could, making no noise. A few feet more and I spotted a white tailed deer, oblivious to my presence. It was quick and I made no mess while feeding.

I got back to my feet and wiped the corners of my mouth with the end of my sleeve.

"You'd think I'd get used to seeing that," the voice coming from behind me caught me off guard. I must have been too involved in my thoughts not to hear James' approach.

The tall muscular vampire with dirty blond hair was leaning against a tree a few feet away, grinning darkly. "Still, though, I've never known a vampire to exist only on animal blood. That has got to be the most disgusting thing I've seen."

"James," I nodded towards him. "What brings you to Biloxi?"

"The change of season," he joked. "Why? Can't I visit my old friend?"

I let out a short laugh. "Friend? I haven't seen you in over a year."

"But what is a year to us, really, when you have eternity?" James laughed to himself. "Still alone, I see."

I began to remember why I hadn't cared that he had been gone for over a year. "Where is Victoria? Did she finally leave you?"

"Of course not." He looked insulted at my presumption. "She's off looking for someone to eat." He moved, then, to sit on a nearby fallen tree. "So what have you been up to? Still working at the asylum?"

"Yes. I haven't been up to much." I thought for a moment about Alice. Until I had met her the night before, my life had been routine: feeding every few days, reading books, working my boring night shift. Now it felt like everything was changing, like something was off.

"What's going on?" James asked. "You look like something is worrying you."

Not for one moment did I mistake his questions as him actually caring. He just couldn't stand it when he felt something was being kept from him. "You're a nosy son of a bitch." I tried to make my answer sound like I was joking. "There's nothing going on, I'm just bored."

"I know you are. That's why you should just come with us. There's no reason for you to stay here. Come hunt with me and Victoria. We have a great time."

"I don't doubt it," I laughed, shaking my head. "But I'm staying here."

James shrugged. "Suit yourself. The invitation's always there."

"I know."

"Well, I'm going to find Victoria." He stood up from the tree. "We'll be in town for a while, so we'll see you again before we move on."

I gave a nod and watched as James sniffed the air and then headed off in a different direction than he'd come. He was using his tracking abilities to find her.

I would have to be careful never to mention Alice in front of him, if I indeed run into him again in the next few days. James was dangerous, and if he got any idea that I was taking an interest in a human, it would turn into a game for him. And it would end badly.


	6. Chapter 6: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 6: Alice**

After supper, I made sure the nurses saw me pretending to yawn so that I wasn't given another sedative. It worked, but to be honest I was rather tired after meeting with Dr Gail; she had exhausted me. By the time supper had come around I was starving, having not eaten breakfast and barely finishing an apple at lunch, so eating the last meal of the day gave me a small boost in energy.

After the session with Dr Gail, I didn't do much. There was an area set aside by the main entrance to the wing for the patients to play games. I didn't play but I saw two of the patients playing chess against each other. After dinner I mostly just sat in my room, sometimes getting up to walk around the small area that was mine. It seemed that during the day they let some of the patients keep their doors open. I suppose that was to keep a better eye on them.

While I was sitting on the edge of the bed, I began thinking about the night before with William. It was nice of him to let me keep the door to my room open and I did feel safe with him around.

While thinking about him, I suddenly felt my heart begin to beat faster and the room around me started to fade. In an instant, instead of seeing the drab surroundings of the asylum wing, I saw trees... a lot of them. It was almost dark out but not quite. The sun was still up, disappearing slowly behind the treetops. I was seeing a forest.

I wanted to look around to see better where I was, but I couldn't. I had never been able to do that when having a vision. I could only see what was being shown. Finally, something happened. Out of nowhere, William came sailing across my view and was stopped by a tree, making a loud cracking sound almost like thunder. A second later, someone else came into view. It was a tall man with dirty blond hair and he was going towards William. He looked angry.

William was still on the ground at the base of the tree that he'd hit, and as the other man approached him, everything went hazy and my room at the asylum materialized in front of me.

I became aware that I was breathing heavily and gripping the edge of the bed so hard that my knuckles ached. I loosened my hold and uncurled my fingers a few times. I tried pushing the vision out of my memory but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I barely knew William but from what I'd seen of him the first night—a vision that he would become a good friend—i did not want anything to happen to him.

Looking down at the floor, I sighed and noticed a shadow. I turned my attention to the doorway. Marguerite was in the hall staring at me. She seemed suspicious standing there. "Are you alright, Alice?" She asked, failing to sound concerned.

"I'm fine..." I answered quietly. "I... I miss my family."

Marguerite nodded slightly. "Do you need something to calm you?"

"No." I said too quickly, then caught myself and said more calmly. "No, thank you."

"Alright. Let me know if you change your mind." With that said, Marguerite walked away and I sighed again, relieved. But I realized I wouldn't be completely relieved until William arrived and I could see for myself that he was okay.


	7. Chapter 7: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 7: William**

I wasn't in the best mood when I walked into the asylum to start my shift. James and Victoria being in town was worrying me... and slightly annoying as well. It did not help my mood that Marguerite was waiting for me.

"You need to keep an eye on that Alice girl." She said.

I hid the fact that I was concerned. "Why?" I asked, hanging my jacket up on the coat rack behind the front desk.

"She had an episode earlier but said she just missed her family."

"Since when is missing her family something to worry about?"

"Maybe you didn't hear me when I said she had an _episode_."

I ignored her mean reply and sat down behind the desk, folding my hands in my lap. "What happened?"

"Well," Marguerite leaned on the desk and lowered her voice as if she was gossiping with one of the other nurses. "I walked past her room about an hour ago and she was sitting on her bed hyperventilating basically... She had this look on her face like she wasn't here, like she was somewhere else. But all she said was that she missed her family, but I think she was lying. I offered a sedative but she said no."

"Why would she lie?" I asked, getting even more annoyed with Marguerite's love of starting trouble.

"Honestly, William, did you not read her file?" She was exasperated. "The girl _claims_ to have visions." I hadn't read her entire file so this surprised me, and at the same time answered the question I'd been wondering: why she was here. When I didn't say anything, Marguerite grabbed her coat and put it on. "So you're going to have to give her a sedative later." She pulled a small bottle of sedatives from her pocket and handed it to me.

"What? Why? I thought she was fine now?" I did not want to give her a sedative, especially if she didn't want one.

"Just do it, William. Don't be so difficult." She huffed. I nodded and put the bottle in my pocket. "Good. See you in the morning." Marguerite turned and left, slamming the door behind her.

Once I was alone, I went over to the small area a few feet away and bent over the table there to clean up the chess pieces that had been left out. Marguerite had told me her version of what happened but I was curious to know Alice's side. I started to put the game pieces back into their box, checking to make sure everyone was asleep as I did so. All the patients were sleeping except for one heartbeat that I had become familiar with the night before.

Staring at the chess board, I thought to myself for a long moment before taking the pieces back out of their box and setting them up on the board. After that was done, I walked down the hall to Alice's room and knocked on the door. It opened a little so I pushed it farther open and found her sitting on her bed. "Alice, would you like to play some chess?"

A smile spread over her small face. "Okay."


	8. Chapter 8: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 8: Alice**

Sitting across from William, a game of chess between us, I felt almost normal. I didn't feel like I was in a mental asylum. And I was almost certain William regarded me as normal, judging by the way he treated me and didn't act like I was dangerous. The game had been going on for almost an hour and we had mostly been having polite general conversation about my family, and it was sad to hear that he had no family but I didn't want to ask more about it in case it brought up bad memories.

"So..." William said after a short silence. "How are you doing in here?"

I was staring at the board, trying to decide on a move to make. "Fine... I don't know what to expect, really... It's better at night because you treat me like I'm normal."

He smiled, watching me move a pawn. "I heard that you had some kind of... episode... earlier." He set his hand on a knight but then pulled back, thinking better of it. "Marguerite said you were missing your family."

I put my head in my hand and leaned closer to the board, not wanting to look him in the eye.

A moment later, he said "Alice, it's okay. You can trust that I'm not going to report anything you say to me."

I looked up now, confused and a little nervous. "Why now? Isn't it your job to report that kind of thing?"

William smiled and laughed a little. "I'm pretty sure it's my job to keep you in your room, too. And, it wasn't exactly said specifically, but I'm sure I'm not supposed to play games with patients, either."

I smiled and looked back to the board, feeling my cheeks get warmer as I blushed. I thought I saw William shift uncomfortably in his chair, but I must have been mistaken, because he was still genuinely smiling. "I'm sure you have read my file," I said, and then muttered, "Seems like everyone has..."

He nodded, seeming to pay more attention to the player I was moving.

"I had a premonition..." I glanced at him through some of my long hair that had fallen in front of my eyes, trying to read his expression to see how he would react. To my surprise, he remained calm, as if it was normal for him to hear this. For all I knew, it might even _be _normal since he worked in this place.

"What's it like... having premonitions?"

That question was not what I had expected to hear back and it kind of caught me off guard. "Um..." My mind was completely blank. "It's hard to explain."

"Well, what about the premonition you had earlier? What was that like?"

"It was..." I bit my lip. "I get taken to somewhere else, most of the time, I see things that don't really make sense until they're about to happen."

He nodded. "What did you see today?"

I thought about telling him that I saw him getting hurt, that someone was going to hurt him very badly, but then I shook my head and laughed, embarrassed that I'd shared so much already. "It was nothing, just about lunch tomorrow." Then I remembered a conversation I'd overhead in the cafeteria during supper between two nurses. "They are serving meatloaf and applesauce." I crinkled my nose, which made him laugh.

A scream ripped through the hall and someone was banging on the inside of their room door. William jumped up and ran to the door on the opposite wall, nearest the front desk. William was extremely fast... faster than I'd ever seen anyone move.

I had learned today that the woman in that room was Roberta, and she usually wasn't left alone. Now, as William tried to calm her down enough to open the door, she was screaming, "I'LL TELL THEM! I SEE YOU AND I'LL TELL THEM!"

"Roberta," William said soothingly. "Everything is okay, just let me in."

I sat, frozen and scared, while I listened to Roberta continue to yell at William as he entered her room. "I'm going to tell them about you and that girl! I will! And they'll believe me!"

"Calm down, now," William said kindly. "Here, just take this. Lay down, everything is all right."

Less than a minute later, William walked out of Roberta's room, holding something in his left hand and putting his right hand to his forehead. He walked back over to me and gave me a half smile. "I'm sorry if she scared you."

I shook my head and tried to slow my heart beat. Roberta had scared me, but I was more worried about her telling one of the nurses and not being able to see William anymore.

He laughed again, and as if he could hear my heart pounding, said, "Really, calm down. She's sleeping now. You'll be fine, she screams all the time."

I swallowed hard, "Uh huh."

His face fell back to looking like something was wrong. "Maybe you should go to sleep, though. It _is _getting late and I wouldn't want something to happen to get us in trouble."

I felt like something to get us in trouble _had _already happened, but I stood up and started towards my room.

"You can still keep your door open, if you want." He called after me quietly. I turned back to him and nodded. "Oh, and," he held up his left hand that I now saw held a bottle of pills. "If anyone asks, I gave you a sedative."

"Okay," I answered. When I turned my back to him to go to my room, I couldn't help but smile.


	9. Chapter 9: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 9: William**

The next couple of weeks went by quickly. During the day I waited to go to work, and at night I spent time with Alice, getting to know her better. Roberta hadn't said anything, as far as I knew, but Alice had told me that the woman constantly looked at her suspiciously.

During this time, it became easier to be around her. Alice's scent was beautiful and I no longer felt like I was a danger to her. I felt, and I suspected she did, too, that we had become friends. She had become comfortable enough with me that she even shared one of her premonitions.

About a week ago, while sitting on the bench across from her room, she had told me she was worried about a premonition she'd had involving me. She didn't say when she had it, but Alice said it involved a man, when she described him, I knew it to be James. All Alice had said of the vision was that James was dangerous.

I didn't push her for more information and tried my best to dissuade her worry without telling her that I was a vampire and could handle James.

The weather was warm when I walked into work to find Marguerite smug, her coat hanging over her arm. She was clearly eager to leave and enjoy the weather. The air outside had smelled so fresh to me and walking into the building was suffocating, filled with Marguerite's retched odor. She had never smelled so bad as she did today; the strong stench of piss that I knew was contempt. She was so spiteful today… towards what I had yet to find out.

"Nice day, William." Her smile became wider.

I was suspicious of her already. "You look happy, Marguerite."

"Well it's a beautiful day!"

"How was the day here? Good?"

"Oh it was fine. The only problem we had was with Alice."

She said this so nonchalantly that I didn't know if I was more concerned or anxious. Glancing down the hall now, I saw Alice's door was open. I knew from experience if there was a problem with a patient, their door would _not_ be open. "What happened?" I asked through my teeth.

"She had one of her _visions_, and was crying hysterically, so we moved her to solitary in the east wing for the night." She turned towards the door and laughed quietly to herself.

Rage washed over e and I wanted to rip her head off, but as soon as the door closed behind me, I sighed and slumped into my chair. I didn't want to think about how scared or lonely Alice would be tonight. They probably had given her a sedative, though… Or at least they would soon.

It didn't take long for me to decide what I would do. As soon as these patients were asleep, I would go looking for her.

The blackness that filled the unused halls barely fazed me; I could see perfectly fine. I didn't know where I was going since I'd never been out of my wing except maybe the cafeteria once to see where it was. It was empty now as I passed it, still keeping an ear on my patients.

Past the cafeteria, I walked through a few halls, feeling like I was in a labyrinth, until I came upon a large door leading to another wing. To my surprise, this wing was completely deserted and even with no lights on, I could see the thick layers of dust floating around in the air. Making my way slowly down the hall, I looked at the doors I passed, trying to find anything that would be of any interest.

I was almost to the end and thinking of turning back when a familiar smell made me stop. I could smell Alice, and it was coming from behind the door to my right. Stepping quickly to the door, I ripped it open, realizing afterward that it had been locked. "Oops." I said, eyeing the broken lock and twisted metal of the door frame.

I became discouraged, finding that she was not in the room. The smell was still there, though, so I went inside and found a light switch. The ceiling lights flickered on but then went dark, leaving only one to hardly brighten the room.

Inside was a mountain of suitcases.

Following the scent, I ended up digging through a small pile of cases near the front, finding hers underneath. I pulled it out and sat on the floor, setting it on top of my legs. The latches weren't locked so there was no need to break it open.

As soon as I lifted the lid, the floral and orchid aroma came out like a cloud and I closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy it. Turning my attention to the contents of the case, I ignored the clothes and was more interested in the little things.

At the top was a light blue ribbon that I assumed was for her hair, as it seemed using ribbon to tie a girls hair up was popular these days. I set it back down and pushed some of the clothes to the left, having noticed something reflect what little light was coming from the ceiling.

Reaching down, I pulled back a small bracelet. The chain was simple but there was a thin plate that had "Alice" etched into it. The bracelet looked handmade but it made me smile to think that such a quaint piece of metal would mean enough to her that she had packed it away to keep. I studied it for a while, turning the plate over in my hand more than a few times.

There was one item remaining and I found it under the clothes. It was a picture of Alice and a girl younger than herself, but looking exactly like how I would imagine a young Alice would look; a big happy smile and a lot of enthusiasm and excitement in her eyes. I imagined her this way, even though she most likely didn't show these emotions during the day when Marguerite was around. What made me smile about the picture was that both of the girls seemed to be in costumes. They both wore oversized hats, flowy scarves, and dresses that looked too big on the younger girl.

I couldn't help but smile seeing Alice's expression—she looked like she was about to laugh at some joke only she knew.

A creak behind me made me quickly close the suitcase and put it back with the others. When I was done, I felt like an idiot for jumping, because no one could possibly be in the wing. And if they were, I would have smelled them first. I shook my head but left the room, anyway.

Standing in the hall, about to return to looking for Alice, a movement caught my eye. Coming out from under the door at the very end of the hall was a piece of fabric, seeming to flutter from a breeze coming from inside.

Going to the door, I stepped on what looked to be a tattered scarf to stop it from going anywhere. Once inside, I saw a window open and closed that first before taking in the contents of this storage area. Being reminded of the picture in Alice's suitcase upon seeing the items filling this space, I smiled and decided I would have to bring Alice here.


	10. Chapter 10: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 10: Alice**

It was a few hours after the sun rose before I saw anyone. Yesterday Marguerite had moved me to what felt like the other end of the large building and locked me in a room that was only big enough for a cot to sleep on.

Dr Gail was now standing there, looking down at me from the doorway. "Alice, I heard you had some problems yesterday."

I shook my head. I had been laying on my bed after supper when Marguerite had come in and said I was going to spend a night in another room. She gave me no explanation and I hadn't slept very well, wondering what was going on.

"Hmm..." Dr Gail looked away for a moment. "Marguerite mentioned you were crying hysterically, that you'd had another vision."

Now I was very confused. "No... I was fine yesterday..."

The woman stared at me; it was clear she did not believe me. "Follow me." She said, turning away.

I stood and followed her out of this wing towards the main building. I had been telling her about my premonitions when I met with her a few times a week. I had been completely honest with her and couldn't imagine why she would distrust me.

We ended up going to her office, where she motioned for me to sit in my usual chair across from her desk. Taking her normal pose of sitting with her hands folded in her lap, she sighed. "Would you like to tell me what happened?... And I would appreciate if you wouldn't lie to me this time."

"But... I'm not lying..." I had failed to find anything to say, feeling like she wouldn't believe me if I did. "I was laying on my room and she came in and got me..."

Dr Gail closed her eyes shortly. "Alice... have you ever experienced not being able to recall any length of time? A blackout?"

"No..." I shook my head again. "I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're talking about. I had supper, I went to my room to lay down. That's all."

"What Marguerite explained to me was that she found you on your bed; you were crying hysterically and looked like you were not... _here. _She called your name a few times but was unable to snap you out of it. She left the room for help, but when she came back, you were fine."

"That never happened!" I was starting to panic, I didn't know what to do. I just wished William was here to help me.

"As it is," She shrugged and put her hands up as if she had no choice. "We're going to have to put you on some medication. Just a mild sedative to keep you calm."

"But I am calm!"

"Hm," She smiled to herself. "If the medication doesn't work as we hope it to, we'll have to look into a more aggressive treatment." The doctor stood from her desk and came over to me as I got up from my chair. She placed her hand behind my back. "Let's take you back to your regular room and get you situated and comfortable."

I was in shock that there was nothing I could do but allow this to happen. The walk back was hazy while I tried to convince myself that William would be able to help me.


	11. Chapter 11: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 1****1: William**

I couldn't believe what I was seeing as I sat two feet from Alice's bed. She was lying on her side, facing me, with an almost dead look in her eyes; the sterile cottony smell of sedatives flowing through her blood. It made my mouth dry.

Marguerite had left quicker than I'd ever seen and I was unable to find any reason in Alice's file for giving her a sedative. I was beginning to realize that was something strange going on with Marguerite.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

She shrugged and didn't even move her eyes to look at me.

I put my head in my hands and let out a low growl. This time she did raise her eyes to look at me, but her expression was more curious than scared. I sighed. "Sorry..." Anger was pulsing through me and I felt helpless to control it. If I could, I would rip a hole in the wall and take Alice away from here.

But where would she go? Honestly, despite being under Marguerite's less than loving care, this was the safest place for her to be... Especially if James and Victoria were still in town. She couldn't go home since her family wouldn't have authorized her release, and she couldn't say with me for the obvious reasons.

I felt like I needed to try anything to wake her up. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the picture I'd found in her suitcase. "Alice, I found your suitcase. I had to leave it where it was but I took a few things." I held out the picture so she could see it.

She smiled a little and tried to reach up to take it but I gave it to her so she wouldn't have to struggle against the sedative any more than she already was. Alice stared at it. "That's my sister Cynthia... We were playing with our mothers' old clothes. I miss her... What else did you take?" She asked slowly, frowning.

The only other thing in my pocket was the bracelet with her name on it. I let her hold it for a while but then took it back; she wouldn't have been allowed to keep it, and if Marguerite saw it, who knows what would happen.

While she continued to look at her picture, I tried to think of anything I could do to help her—to protect her even a little from Marguerite. "I'll be right back." I said, standing and leaving the room quickly. Pulling out my set of keys for the wing, I went straight to the cage behind the front desk that held all the medications either prescribed or what we might need. I found Alice's prescription almost immediately and then continued over to the shelf that held other drugs. Holding her bottle of pills up, I tried my best to find something that visually matched that wouldn't be as strong.

Then I found it. Lorazepam. There was a supply of half-milligram doses that looked just like her prescription. I pulled it off the shelf and went to the small table inside the cage they used to sort out pills for patients. Dumping hers out, I counted 59 left, then counted 59 of the lorazepam and put them into the bottle that had Alice's name on the front. Without thinking, I dropped the extra pills back into the lorazepam bottle. If the wrong pills were caught in that bottle, the consequences would be insignificant. I wasn't concerned.

After putting both bottles back where they came from and making sure the labels faced out exactly like no one had touched them, I headed back to Alice. She smiled when I sat back into my chair. "Alice," I began. "I switched your medication... Next time they give you a pill, take it. It's a sedative that's nowhere _near_ as strong as the stuff they gave you today. It might make you feel calm, but that's all. _But _you have to pretend like it knocks you out until I get here. Okay?"

She nodded.

I stood again. "Make sure you keep that picture where they won't find it. I'll be out in the hall. You'll feel a lot better if you stop fighting the sedative and sleep." I paused and sighed, feeling guilty. "I won't let them do anything to you again."

I turned to leave the room but was stopped when her small warm hand caught the tips of the fingers of my left hand. Surprised, I looked back to her.

Alice's eyes went from my face to my cold hand and I became scared wondering what she thought of finding out how cold and hard my skin was. Then she looked back to my face again and squeezed my hand weakly. Smiling, she whispered, "Thank you."


	12. Chapter 12: James

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 12: James**

"What a dump." Victoria sneered, making sure she didn't stand close enough to touch anything in the small house located a bit away from any neighborhoods that might be in the area.

"What do you expect?" I answered, standing in what I assumed was supposed to be William's living room. The place _was _a dump. Newspapers everywhere, books half open on the floor. It looked like someone had ransacked the place.

"I don't understand why you have to say goodbye to William. You barely even see him. What does it matter?" Victoria grumbled from behind her mass of red hair, looking down at the floor and kicking away a ragged pillow.

"William's an old friend," I said simply. I could smell in the air that he was approaching, and smiled to her.

A moment later, William walked in the door of the house. He didn't seem surprised that we were waiting for him, but I hadn't expected him to be. "James." He said, hanging his coat by the door. Then he turned and nodded in Victoria's direction.

"Charming place," Victoria smirked.

"Do you two need something?" William asked as he sat down on the couch.

I laughed to myself. "Are we bothering you, Will? I thought we were friends."

William sighed and rubbed his face. "Sorry, James. It was just a rough day at work."

"But I thought you worked while everyone was sleeping. What's so rough about that... besides not just drinkin' them all dry?" Victoria laughed to herself.

"Nothing." William muttered, getting back up and walking to a corner of the room to turn a light off since the sun was now completely up.

When he passed me, something caught my attention. He smelled different. He smelled like a human. I sniffed a little, trying to be as discrete as possible. William had been in contact with a human girl that smelled like citrus and orchids... and judging by how strong the scent was, it wasn't just a one-time momentary meeting. He'd been around her quite often for a long time.

I looked at Victoria and I could tell she was wanting to know what was going on. "We were just stopping by to let you know we're leaving." I said, bringing my attention back to William.

"Oh!" William said, turning so that his back was no longer facing me. "Where are you headed now?"

"Not sure, really." I replied.

Victoria was at my side now, with her arm linked with mine and her head on my shoulder. "We were thinking of maybe heading to New York City."

"Sounds exciting." William smiled. "Well, I hope you two have fun."

"We have fun no matter where we are." She cooed.

William chuckled. "I believe that."

"So Will, have you met anyone in the last few weeks?" I asked, ignoring Victoria's annoying grasp on my arm.

He shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Oh," I shrugged. "You just smell different. I thought I could smell a human on you."

William turned away again and started busy work of tidying up some of the things laying around his living room. "Oh that. Well I was bored so I got the laundry and started sorting it for the wash in the morning... Nothing at all interesting."

I paused a moment as I watched him continue to clean up. "Well, we'll leave you to your... cleaning. Maybe we'll see you within the next year." I smiled at him.

"Yeah," William smiled back but looked uneasy. "Good to see you two."

"You, too." I said, ushering Victoria out of the house.

The door closing behind us, I grabbed Victoria's hand and pulled her south into the woodsy area away from William's house. Once I was sure we were far enough away that he wouldn't be able to hear us, I stopped to think.

"_What _is going on?" Victoria huffed. "I thought we were going north."

"We will." I appeased. "We just have one thing to do before we leave."

She folded her arms over her chest. "What do we have to do?"

"Follow William."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"There's something going on with him that he's not telling us." I looked back in the direction of his house. "He's protecting some human girl..."

"So? Why does that mean we have to stay?"

I grinned and could feel an excitement rising in me. "Because I feel like hunting."


	13. Chapter 13: Alice

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 13: Alice**

Sitting in the cafeteria, I stirred my oatmeal, not entirely sure I wanted to eat it. My head was hurting a little from the sedative last night; I was still kind of sleepy. I took a small bite of the oatmeal, which was now cold, and saw Marguerite walk into the cafeteria.

Usually I see her right from the moment I wake up, but I hadn't seen her much today except in passing when she was talking to a couple of doctors. Being near her made me anxious, but I felt a little better today because of William's promise to not let anyone do anything to me.

I tried not to make eye contact with her but it was hard once she came to my empty table and sat down across from me. "How are we feeling this morning?" She asked.

Nervous, I started to twirl a piece of my hair slowly. "Good."

She glanced down to my hair in my hand, then back to my face. "I just wanted to check up. Also, I wanted to let you know we have therapy scheduled for you tomorrow. I think you'll feel much better after. It might even get rid of those _visions _you have."

"... What kind of therapy would do that?" I asked, completely sure I didn't want to lose my premonitions. "And why are you telling me today? Usually you tell me in the morning that day..."

"Well," She smiled, shrugging. "There's a little we have to do to prep you for the therapy."

I shifted in my seat, becoming more nervous. "What do you mean, 'prep'?"

"Oh it's nothing, really." Marguerite laughed a bit. "Are you done eating? I came to get you." She stood and brushed her hands down to get any wrinkles out of her nurses coat.

"Not really--" I said but was interrupted by her picking up my oatmeal and tossing it into a nearby garbage can.

"Guess you're not hungry right now," She folded her hands in front of her and leaned slightly towards where I still sat. "Let's go." I got to my feet and followed her out of the cafeteria, having no clue what to expect. Marguerite glanced back at me. "Don't worry, dear." She smiled once more. "After your therapy, it'll be _shocking _how much better you'll be."

The room she brought me to was small and light green—different from the white and beige I was used to looking at. There was a cushioned bench against the wall to the left of the door and a chair in the middle of the room. In the far right corner sat a small folding table.

"Go ahead and sit in the chair." Marguerite said, taking a seat on the bench and crossing her legs. Right after I sat down, a man walked into the room holding a folded cloth in his hand. "Ah, Michael. Good to see you."

The man, Michael, smiled back, walked behind where I sat and pulled the small table over, setting the cloth down and unfolding it. I saw a small pair of scissors. I immediately looked at Marguerite, who continued to smile. "What's going on?"

"Just a hair cut, dear." She replied.

"I don't _want _one."

Michael, who had picked up the scissors, paused. "Marguerite?"

The nurse waved her hand to brush off the misunderstanding. "She's been asking constantly for a hair cut. She's just a little confused is all."

"I'm not confused!"

Marguerite turned her smile to me again. "Do you need a sedative, Alice? I can get you one."

She was speaking in a pleasant tone but it was clear she was threatening me. "No..."

"Then go ahead, Michael."

He leaned around me to look me in the eyes. "Is that okay with you?"

I didn't break my stare with Marguerite, but nodded as I fought back tears.

He was hesitant, but sighed and said, "Okay, then. How short?"


	14. Chapter 14: William

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 14: William**

To my surprise, Marguerite was gone when I arrived for my shift that night. She had never left before my arrival in the years I had worked here. Instead, Gertie was there closing up. "How come Marguerite isn't here?" I asked.

"She said she had to run out, mentioned something about an emergency." Gertie shrugged into her coat.

"Oh. Anything I need to know about today?"

She thought for a moment. "No. Everything went just fine. I'm going." She smiled.

"Okay. See you..." I waited until she left to go to Alice's room. It was early but all of the other patients were already sleeping. "Alice?" I knocked. When she didn't answer, I let myself into her room.

Alice was sitting the same way as when I first met her—she was on her bed with her knees hugged to her chest. The only difference was that her hair was about 3 inches short.

"What the _hell _happened?!"

she didn't look at me, but muttered, "Marguerite."

It made sense that she would be responsible for this. "Why?!" Was the only thing I was able to get out.

Alice started to cry and buried her face in her knees. "I don't know. The only thing she said was that I needed my hair cut because I was going to have some kind of therapy tomorrow that required it. She said it'd be shocking how much better I'd be."

I instantly knew when she said that, that Marguerite had scheduled her for electroshock therapy. I felt sick and needed to sit down. Instead of pulling up the chair like I normally would, I sat on the bed next to her.

Alice looked at me, tears still on her face. "What? What does that mean?"

I stayed silent, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Marguerite was attacking Alice on purpose, but why? Electroshock therapy, which Alice did not need, would not require the patient to cur their hair. I started to panic, I needed to do something to stop them from giving her the therapy. I'd seen patients go through it, and besides it being painful for them, most of the time it turned them into a drooling vegetable. In that moment I realized that I had failed Alice... I had promised not to let anything happen to her, and I'd failed. Something had to be done. I would do absolutely anything before I let Alice get hurt ever again.

"William?" Alice said quietly.

I looked at her. "I was just thinking..."

"What does it mean?"

"It doesn't matter what it means because you won't be getting that therapy." We were looking at each other. She was confused but I really didn't want to explain. A few stray tears were still making their way down her face and I reached over to brush them away with my thumb.

She flinched so slightly that a normal human wouldn't have noticed, but I did. "You're very cold." She said.

I pulled my hand away. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I've just never met anyone with such cold skin." She sniffled.

We were both quiet again. "...I think I know something that might cheer you up." I offered. She didn't answer but wiped the last of her tears away with her palm and followed me out of her room.

I took her to the hallway where I'd found her suit case and led her to the room at the end. The window was open again but I didn't pay any attention to it. "They used to put on little plays and things, years ago before Marguerite worked here." I explained, watching her take in the cases of old dresses, hats, makeup and other things.

Alice walked slowly through the room, looking at everything. She picked up a dress or two to inspect it. She wasn't smile but there was an obvious interest in her eyes as if a fire had been lit. "I love clothes like these," She murmured.

"I kind of thought that from the picture of you and your sister." I answered, still standing in the doorway.

Picking up a dress and a thin sweater, she walked over towards the left side of the room where there was a short wall set up that the patients had used for changing sometimes. On the way, she stopped to take something from a case that looked to contain makeup.

I waited while she took a minute to change and then a few more minutes with whatever makeup she had picked up. When she came out from behind the wall, I saw that she had actually picked up some wax for hair.

Alice was wearing a purple dress that was more grey and a thin black sweater, which remained unbuttoned in the front. Her hair that had been flat now was styled to flair out a bit at the ends. She came back towards me, spinning once and giving me a smile. "I do feel better, now that I'm out of those clothes they gave me. Thank you."

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out her bracelet. She let me wrap it around her wrist and seemed happy to have it back. I smiled. "I know you're probably still upset about your hair, but I think you look beautiful."

She blushed a very deep red. "William... Ever since you first met me and didn't even know me, you've always been so protective. Why?"

"I have this way of knowing people..." I replied. "I can tell the good from the bad, the innocent from the guilty... You're innocent. You shouldn't be here, and you don't deserve to be treated the way you are."

Alice was surprised. "Oh." She stared at the floor and bit her lip, struggling with some thought in her head. "Can I ask you another question?"

"Of course."

"You're very different. Your skin is cold and I've seen you move very fast a few times. There's just something strange... you don't have to tell me, but I've been wondering."

It hurt to hear her say the word 'strange' when describing me. "I'm not like everyone else... I'm 134 years old... About a hundred years ago I was really sick and was pretty much going to die... Then this doctor came in and... he was a vampire... He knew I was dying and he changed me to save my life..."

I was expecting her to either laugh, thinking it was a joke, or run away screaming. But all she did was stand there with her eyes wide. "Wow... Do you... drink blood?"

"Only animal blood." I said quickly, confused. "Why are you not afraid?"

"I have _visions_." She said simply. "I thought vampires killed people."

"Most do. Again, I'm not like everyone else." It felt very weird to be having this conversation. "Most do kill people. I used to but I just couldn't anymore. I couldn't live with the guilt."

"What a martyr." A voice came from just inside the open window. James and Victoria stood there. I cursed myself for being too distracted to notice. "Is this what you've been hiding from me, William? Pretty."

Victoria scowled.

I stepped to the side, moving to be in front of Alice. "What're you doing here, James? I thought you had left."

"We were going to, but I felt like you weren't telling me something. Thought I'd find out on my own."

"Well now you know. You can go now." I added a low growl.

James grinned. "But what would be the fun in that? She looks so tasty."

"William," Alice whispered. I put my arm out to let her know I wouldn't let them touch her. "Marguerite is coming. She's in the main wing."

I turned to look at her. "What?" At that moment, James growled and lunged for us but I grabbed Alice's hand and ran as fast as I could back towards the main hall where she said Marguerite would be.

"William!" Alice was out of breath trying to keep up with me. I was pretty much just dragging her along since she couldn't run as fast as me.

"They're bad, Alice. They'll kill you!"

Once back in the main hall, I stopped when I saw Marguerite standing beside the open entrance. "I knew it." Marguerite said, an evil excitement coming over her. She took a step forward and pointed at us. "I knew something was going on ever since Roberta told me. She saw you treating this _girl _special, letting her out of her room at night." I could feel James and Victoria standing a few feet behind us, and Marguerite shifted to see them better. "Who are _they_? Are you letting your _friends _into the building now, too? William, you are fired!"

"I don't care," I yelled back. "I won't let you do anything else to Alice."

"That girl isn't going anywhere!" She yelled back.

"She's so annoying." Victoria complained. "Can't I just shut her up?"

I took that chance of distraction to pull Alice out the front door into the early evening. Behind us, I heard a scream, but didn't need to turn back to know that Marguerite was dead.

Picking Alice up, I ran as fast as I possibly could; I had always been faster than James and we had a head start. I carried her far into the woods by the asylum, stopping after more than a few miles. In the short time it took me to get there, my mind had been racing. Alice was in danger and James would never stop until he killed her. The only thing that might save her was if I changed her.

I didn't want to. She shouldn't have to go through the pain and confusion and thirst that I went through. I set her down and she looked up at me, wanting to know what was going to happen next. Looking at the ground, unable to meet her eyes, I said, "Alice..."

"It's okay, William." Her voice wavered as if unsure, but she gave a confident smile. "I don't know what's going to happen next, but I know you won't let them hurt me."

"I'm just afraid that the only way to keep them from hurting you... is to hurt you myself."

"Why?" She asked.

I looked in her eyes and tried to make her understand. "James thinks you belong to me. The only reason he wants to hurt you is because he thinks you're mine. I've seen him do this many times to others, and he won't give up until you're changed or dead... preferably dead." I stopped before I said anything else, because I knew that I was running out of options. I might be faster than James but with Victoria on his side, there was no way I would be able to kill him before he could kill me or Alice.

"How does it work?"

"How does what work?" I mumbled, disappointed in myself for letting her down.

"You said he'd stop if I was changed. How does it work?"

Realizing what she was asking of me, I cringed internally and answered quietly. "...I bite you... the venom goes through you, turns you into a vampire. It's very painful, Alice, and it's not quick. It lasts for about three days, during which you'll wish you had died instead. It'll feel like you're on fire, only worse."

Alice sighed. "It doesn't really sound like I have many options."

I tried to stall but I didn't have much time. "James is almost here." I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a few trees that sat close together, well enough to hide her even though her scent was easily followed. Moving her so that her back faced where we had just been standing, I looked at her sadly. "Alice, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."

"William," She said again. "You've done so much for me, helped me. I appreciate it all. It's okay."

Knowing James was seconds away, I took Alice's wrist and bit into it as gently as I could. This time when she flinched, she wasn't able to hide it, and shortly after that, the venom started through her. I helped her sit on the ground, watching the pain on her face as she clutched her wrist to her body and tried not to make any noise. I knelt down and put my arms around her, mourning the warmth that would soon be gone from her body. One last time, I whispered to her, "I'm sorry."

I never wanted to leave her, or let her go through this alone, but I had no choice but to get up and try and keep James away from her. Running back into the open area of the woods, I wanted to get far away from where Alice was to give her a better chance. Still running, I quickly glanced back to where I'd left her, and was suddenly hit hard in the chest, throwing me back until a tree stopped me. I fell to the ground and looked up as James walked closer to me.


	15. Chapter 15: Sep 3rd, 1920

Hey everyone! Sorry took so long for this next chapter, not really sure how I want it to progress, so please be patient :)

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 15: September 3rd, 1920**

Sinking down to the ground, I held my wrist against my chest. I could feel the cool ground under me and the hard cropping of trees at my back. Hearing a loud crack, I turned my head to peer through the small space between the trees, and saw William on the ground. A moment later, James approached him.

I couldn't hear much through the growling that came from James as he lifted William off the ground and held him up off of his feet. I heard James ask "What did you do with her?" and William respond "It doesn't matter, she's already turning" just as James was glancing in my direction.

As soon as he said that, James growled so loudly that leaves fell from the trees. A few fell on me but I didn't dare move in case he heard me.

I started to feel warm and in a matter of seconds a burning ripped through my body, making it very difficult for me to keep still and silent. I saw James grip William by the throat and throw him to where I couldn't see. Turning my head back forward, I bent over my wrist and shut my eyes as tight as I could. I'd never felt so much pain as I was feeling right now, and I tried so hard to keep my breathing even, hoping it would help.

The pain just wouldn't stop. In fact, it felt like it was getting worse; like it was burning as deep as my bones. I could just barely feel a few tears squeeze through my eyes and thought I must be hot enough that they would evaporate, but they didn't. William had been right. I was sure dying wouldn't be as painful as this.

It was so overpowering, I felt like I might pass out any minute. Breathing heavy, I lowered myself to the ground to lay on my side. "It's okay... It's okay..." I whispered to myself, cringing.

I thought I could hear some kind of ripping noise and smell smoke, but before I could even think about it, everything went black.

The first thing I saw was a man about the same age as me. He had a nice face and curly blond hair, and looked lonely, unsure of where he was going. He was with a man and a woman who looked happy. But he looked troubled and lost.

I opened my eyes and stared up at the night sky through the leaves of the trees above me. Where was I? _Who _was I? I sat up and looked down at my hands, then at the dress I was wearing. Judging from the time of year, it seemed unreasonable to wear the dress, but I didn't feel cold. I curled my hands into fists, feeling strangely strong, then the bracelet caught my eye.

Alice. Was that my name? It must be.

Twigs snapped and I was immediately on my feet. It happened so fast and confused me even more. Looking around, I couldn't see anyone near me, but very far away I could hear people walking. They were saying something about a girl. "It's been three days, she's not going to be out here. I say we stop looking." One of them, a man, said.

The other person was also a man. He sighed and agreed. "I guess you're right. Even if she was, it's been so cold who knows what's happened to her. I still don't know what we should tell the family, though."

I stayed rooted to my spot and waited while I heard their steps get farther away as their conversation continued. I inhaled, relieved for some reason, and caught a musky scent. A few yards away stood a deer eating some grass. A powerful strength rushed up my spine until it reached my shoulder blades and I crouched down, ready to lunge for the deer.

Everything that was happening since I woke up was confusing me even more... The deer didn't smell good to me, but it didn't smell bad, and I wanted so badly to tear it apart and drink until I couldn't drink anymore. My throat felt hot and dry like a desert... And there was nothing I wanted more than it's blood.

Moving up onto the balls of my feet, some leaves rustled and the deer looked up. As soon as it saw me, it took off in the opposite direction. For a moment, I thought to move after it, but I knew there was no way I'd ever be able to catch a deer on foot. Sighing, I looked up at the sky. I couldn't tell how late it was, but I stood and started walking. It was a surprise how fluidly I moved, almost as if I was aware of the entire ground beneath my feet and nothing would get in my way or trip me.

On my way out of the woods, I passed a pile of ashes that seemed very out of place; the ground around it had been burned. A few feet away, a light blue ribbon was caught on the bark of a tree, and I picked it up as I continued to move.

Minutes later, I came out of the woods at the edge of a town that looked abandoned, however some houses had lights on. _It must be very late..._ I stepped off of the cool grass onto the paved road and kept walking, past dark houses, until I came to some stores in the middle of town.

I approached what looked like a clock store, wanting to know what time of night it was. Looking in the front window, the big grandfather clock in the front told me it was 3:14am. "Hm..." I focused away from the clock, wanting to see my reflection as I couldn't remember what I looked like.

I was surprised to think I was beautiful. My skin was pale like a china doll and flawless, my dress actually looked good on me, I even thought my incredibly short hair looked cute. And my eyes...

I jumped back, landed on the ground. My eyes were bright blood red. I might have no memory and strange things might be happening since I woke up in the woods, but I knew red eyes were not normal. What on earth was going on?

Moving my hands back on the pavement to get up, I noticed some paper under my right hand. I picked it up as it seemed to be the front page of a newspaper. I needed to find _something _that would explain what was happening. Unfortunately, all I found was some information about a murder that filled the whole page. There were two pictures next to each other, a man and a woman. According to the article, the woman, Marguerite, was killed at her job about three days ago and they were looking for the suspected killer, which was this man named William. The paper said he was very dangerous, and he had disappeared.

I turned my head to look up and down the street, to see if anyone was there, feeling odd because at the same time I felt afraid and fearless.


	16. Chapter 16: Dec 17th, 1920

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 16: December 17th, 1920**

A few miles away from where I had woken up, I had found a house that was basically alone, that looked abandoned. I had been staying there for over two months and barely went out, and if I did go out it was only at night.

The first week after I'd found myself in the woods, I had tried to find if I knew anyone in the nearby town. I had stayed until the morning, hoping to talk to a few people but another strange thing had occurred, causing me to leave. As soon as the sun rose, my skin began to sparkle. Knowing this was yet another thing that wasn't normal, I went back to the woods until the night came again.

In the early evening, after the sun had set, I ventured back into the town and went to a book shop. When I had entered and approached the owner, standing behind the front desk, the dry burning thirst returned to my throat, making it hard to concentrate.

"How can I help you?" asked the young man.

"Do you know who I am?" I replied, trying not to breathe. Holding my breath seemed to make it more bearable, but only slightly.

He smiled. "No, should I?"

"Um..." I glanced at the floor. "I don't really remember who I am, only that my name is Alice. You wouldn't happen to know if anyone here knows me or is looking for me?"

He stood for a while, his hand to his chin, thinking. "I'm sorry, I can't recall ever hearing someone mention an Alice, or that anyone with that name going missing."

"Oh, okay." I was disappointed.

"I'm very sorry." He said, frowning.

I nodded and turned for the door. Reaching for the handle, I inhaled deeply, tired of holding my breath for so long. It had been a mistake. The delicious smell of the man's blood filled my lungs and, like a demon, overrode all of my senses and judgment.

Turning so quickly he wouldn't have noticed, I threw myself at him and bit into the large artery in his neck. Nobody passing would have seen us as we had fallen to the floor behind the desk. He had clawed at me until he became to weak from lack of blood, but I had an unnatural strength to me and his struggling barely affected me. When I was finished, I got to my feet and stared down at him.

An overwhelming guilt flooded through me and I ran from the store as fast as I possibly could. On my way back to the woods, I stopped in the clock store, getting the same answer that the man didn't know of anybody who knew me, and feeling the same burning thirst, I stayed at the door with my hand on the handle.

But now I stayed in the house, feeding on animals nearby in the woods, even though they didn't help with the thirst the way the human blood had seemed to.

The house had been a mess when I found it so I busied myself at first with cleaning it, and then with reading the books that had been in the living room.

That night when I left the house, my intention was to leave this place. Staying in Biloxi, Mississippi didn't seem to hold any future for me, and I was intent on finding a place where I belonged.


	17. Chapter 17: Feb 15th, 1921

***Note*** Hey guys, I really appreciate all of the great comments you all are leaving! It really inspires me to try and write faster/better so you'll enjoy the rest of the story. I wanted to address something: I'm trying to go as close as possible to the few facts that were given in the Twilight series in regards to Alice's past. Few things about that... when Alice wakes up and can't remember who/what/where/etc, that's what happened. It says in the book the first thing she remembers if having a vision of Jasper. She doesn't remember anything about her life in the asylum or the family she had, or even James wanting to kill her. She finds out about James in the first book because he makes some comment about hunting her in the past, then learns later about her sister and family, and finds her tombstone with the death date as the same day she went into the asylum. Also, Alice gets turned in 1920.. but per the Twilight time line, she doesn't meet Jasper until 1948. I'm trying my best to make the chapters go as fast cuz I know you all want Jasper to come in, but it has to atleast try and cover those 28 years. I hope you all won't be disappointed in how the story will go, I truly hope you'll continue to love it as much as you have told me you do. So with that said, please enjoy the chapter!

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 17: February 15th, 1921**

It was him again. The man I saw in the vision I'd had when I first woke up. He was handsome, looked like he needed a friend. The setting looked like a diner I've never seen before, but from my point of view, I was sitting at the counter. I was looking towards the door, only a few feet away.

He had walked in and the little bell on the door jingled. When he saw me sitting at the counter, he took a few steps towards me and stopped.

All of a sudden I heard myself saying "I've been waiting a long time for you to arrive."

He looked confused and intrigued at the same time, and then a moment later ducked his head like a southern gentleman and replied "I'm sorry, ma'am."

I saw my hand reach out to him, palm up, a non-verbal invitation to go with me. He looked at my hand and hesitated.

Before I could see the rest of what happened, my surroundings came back to me. I was on the streets of New Orleans in a crowd dressed up in bright colors of purple, green and gold, loud music, and noise. Everyone was having a great time and it was dark out so I didn't have to worry about my skin sparkling. I was wearing a flashy red dress and moved through the sea of people, trying my best to go unnoticed while enjoying myself.

For the past couple of months, through drinking only animal blood, I found that human blood didn't draw me as much anymore. The temptation was still there, but I could now bear the discomfort it caused me. While passing all of the people, I heard bits of conversation, including a few about the celebration not being as fun because of the depression the country was going through. This celebration was held every February, but judging from what I was seeing, I couldn't imagine it being any better.

Walking down the sidewalk, passing bars and restaurants, I was stopped by a woman. "Hey you," she called.

I looked around, then turned back to her. "Me?" She was a thin beautiful girl with long black hair, leaning against a building with a few men standing around her, looking hopeful.

"Yeah, you." She removed herself from the circle of men and walked over to me. "You look lost. I bet I could help you."

This woman didn't smell the same as the humans. The smell of fresh blood was gone around her, and this confused me, but looking at her eyes I realized she was the same as me, because hers were blood red but darkened just enough to not be noticed by others. "Are you ...new?"

"I suppose you could say that. But I don't remember."

She stared at me, thinking, then smiled. She took my hand and pulled me into walking with her further down the sidewalk until we were out of the crowd and near an empty alley. When we stopped, she let my hand go and looked at me again. "I have been so bored being here by myself." She sounded excited, smiling wide. "You're the first one I've seen since I came here."

"First one what?" I asked.

"Vampire," She replied matter-of-factly.

I lowered my gaze to the pavement and thought to myself. I knew something was wrong with me, but I'd never knew the word for it. Vampires were only something you'd hear about in stories. They didn't exist, though now the craving for only blood made sense, along with the strength and quickness that I'd been experiencing for months. I discovered that i now had been trying to deny that i knew all along what i was.

"Did you really not know?" The girl asked. "You must be very new. I'm surprised you're not ripping through this crowd."

"You and I are the only ones?"

"Yes!" She was excited again. "I'm Nicki... Well, Nicolette, but my friends call me Nicki... I mean, when I _had_ friends, before I became a vampire. You can call me Nicki. Have you been here long?" She asked.

"No, I only arrived a few days ago." I replied, noticing she was staring at my face, looking very confused.

"Your eyes are a weird color. Like a deep gold."

I glanced down, feeling embarrassed for some reason. "I think it's because I drink animal blood, but I'm not sure."

Nicki looked completely disgusted and stuck out her tongue. "I don't know how you can stomach that. Human blood is much tastier." She motioned back towards the huge crowd with her hand. "I love parties like this because just being in the middle of it all is so... _intoxicating_."

"How do you control yourself?"

Her response was a shrug. "Don't know. Probably because I've been around it for over 30 years as a vampire. It gets easier." She leaned against the building we were standing next to and looked me over again. Nicki's smile got even bigger. "You and me, we're gonna be fantastic friends." She winked. "I can tell."

Her enthusiasm and happy disposition was starting to rub off on me. Thinking about this girl that I'd only just met, a vision flashed briefly in front of me of us laughing together and I felt very happy.

Since I hadn't responded, Nicki's smile melted away and she reached out to touch my arm. "Unless you don't want to."

"No," I said, thinking of the short image I'd just experienced. "I'd love to be your friend."

The huge grin returned and she grabbed my hand again. "Come on! Let's get back and enjoy the party!" And with that, she ran back to the people, pulling me along behind her.


	18. Chapter 18

Hey all! I'm sooo sorry that you all had to wait this long for another chapter. I'm doing my best, I've been pretty sick the last few weeks, I don't have as much time to write anymore as I did when I started the story, lots of personal things going on as well. I did want to say one thing before the chapter starts, though. Going along the same lines as with the huge intro to the last chapter, I _**am **_trying to keep everything as close to Stephanie's characters as I possibly can. So please be patient, especially if you read the story and think "I thought _this _was supposed to happy, I thought she was supposed to be _this _way, not _that _way." It's not over, folks!

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 18**

"So you can't remember _anything_?" Nicki asked, staring at me with wide eyes. We were at her place, which was a house fairly close to town that had been labeled unlivable because there was so much damage to it. It was fine for us, though.

In response to her question, I shook my head.

"Wow..." She looked down, then back at me. "You're blowing my mind right now... Not even your family or where you came from?"

"I remember where I woke up... I don't remember my family, though. When I woke up, I went to the town nearby and asked if anyone knew me, but nobody did."

Nicki shook her head. "I would hate it if I couldn't remember my family... Well, I wouldn't mind forgetting that I killed them... But, you know, the _good _times we had together. I cherish those memories."

Shocked by how casual she was talking about killing her family, I tried to recover quickly and gave her a half smile.

"Nothing at all? That stinks."

"Well, there is one thing..." I said, remembering the two short visions I'd had between waking up and meeting Nicki. "I keep seeing this guy..."

"Ooh!" She grinned. "Boyfriend, maybe?"

"I don't know... it almost feels like I haven't met him yet, but he is very familiar to me."

Nicki stared at me. "But you don't remember anything else?"

I shook my head again.

She sighed and dropped her chin onto her hand. "That's depressing..." She paused a moment, drumming her fingers against her cheek. Suddenly, she brightened and sat up straight. "I know! We should go out!" When I didn't answer, she looked disappointed. "Please? You haven't gone out with me in weeks!"

I gave her a smile and she ran out of the room saying she was going to get changed.

During the time I'd spent so far with Nicki, she had gone out every night. I went with her the first few nights, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to resist drinking human blood. So much so that I had just decided not to go out... but it did make me feel guilty to pretty much refuse to spend time with my new friend.

Nicki was back before I could blink, wearing a short skirt she had adjusted herself by ripping off more than half of the original length, and a bright yellow top with the first few buttons left undone. "Here," She said, tossing some clothes at me that were exactly the same except for the color of the top—mine was light green. "Tonight is going to be awesome! I'm so glad you're coming with me!"

As soon as I was finished changing, she grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the night.

Needless to say, because of how fast being a vampire allowed us to move, we were at our destination in no time. Nicki took me to a jazz club about 18 miles away from the house we were staying at. She said it was because she didn't want anyone around the club to know where she lived.

Nicki and I stopped when we reached the back of the club and walked around to the front entrance. Inside, it was dark with some low lighting, all of the lights covered with an orange or red tinted shade, which went with the color scheme of the place. It was roomier than it looked from the outside and people were dancing to the loud fast jazz.

Nicki's signature grin appears once more and she turned to me, trying her hardest to look calm and serious, but her eyes were such a bright red I could all but see the fire burning through her. Luckily, the colors all over the club would give her the perfect explanation if anyone brought up her eye color. "Just be cool." She whispered.

I nodded and followed her further into the building, looking around and taking in as much as I could possibly see. The people on the floor looked professional, like they danced for a living.

Nicki and I slid into a booth in the corner of the room, which was slightly darker since the lighting hardly reached us here. After a moment of sitting in silence, I turned to her. "What're we--"

"Sh!" She didn't look at me and raised her hand at me quickly in a "stop" motion.

Noticing that she was staring ahead, I turned to see that two men were about to approach us. They walked over, elbowing each other a little. The two looked almost the same; tall, muscular, good shape... The only difference was that one had blond hair and the other had dark brown hair.

"Hey," The one with blond hair said, stopping on the other side of the table where we sat.

"Hey," Nicki said back, smiling and fluttering her eyelashes.

"Do you girls want to dance?" The one with brown hair said. "I'm Kevin, by the way. This is Jeff."

I could feel Nicki thrumming with excitement beside me as she continued to try to keep calm. I, however, just felt nervous for the outcome of the evening. "Sure." Nicki replied sweetly.

We both slid out from the booth and she immediately went for Jeff, the blond one, so I walked to Kevin. I folded my cold hands behind my hack when he reached for one, walking towards the other dancers. Moving side to side, I glanced at Nicki, who was dancing wildly and obviously enjoying herself.

Kevin laughed. "You don't like to dance, do you?"

The truth was I didn't know if I liked to dance. I was just uneasy. Nicki, having heard Kevin's question, shot a glare in my direction when Jeff wasn't looking. I laughed and smiled. "No, it's not that. I..." I thought quickly. "I just ended a relationship."

He nodded. "I understand." Kevin then smiled and grabbed my hand, twirling me into his arms. "Well I'm sure I can make you forget him—You're cold!" The expression on his face was mostly curious and confused, with a little humor mixed in.

Before I could come up with an excuse, Nicki made her way over to us. "Hey! I've got an idea. Why don't we all go back to my place and have some fun?" Instead of grinning this time, she had a kind of seductive smile on her face. Jeff, who was standing behind her, was enthusiastic about the idea and trying to convince Kevin with his eyes to agree.

Kevin laughed and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

When we exited the club, Nicki headed in the opposite direction of our house, which didn't overly surprise me. I knew she didn't plan on walking 18 miles back with two guys, so all I could do was follow her blindly like Kevin and Jeff. After a few blocks, she turned her head to look at us and said "Just one more block. It's just the next corner."

At the end of the next block, she turned abruptly and walked down an alley. The three of us followed. Jeff looked at Kevin and laughed, "Is this a shortcut to your place?"

Nicki spun around to face us and stopped, still smiling. "No, this is it."

In a split second she had moved from her spot back to the two men and shoved them against the side of one of the buildings we stood between. When their backs hit, I could hear the wind being knocked out of their lungs and Nicki was there before either of them had a chance to fall to the ground. She put a hand against Jeff's chest, tilting her head to one side to look at his face better. "I bet you're sweet, honey."

I stood rooted to the spot as I watched her bite into Jeff's neck. Kevin, standing next to the two of them, realized what was happening and tried to run but Nicki threw her free arm out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him back. She looked at me, annoyance clear in her eyes. "Would you get over here?"

The delicious smell of blood wafted in my direction and I fought against every fiber in my body that was jumping in anticipation. I had stayed away from this temptation for how long now? I closed my eyes hard and held my breath.

"Alice!" Nicki yelled, letting Jeff fall to the ground but keeping her hand on Kevin to hold him in place.

When I opened my eyes, I had moved from the few feet away where I had been, to standing on the other side of Kevin, looking into Nicki's face. She took her hand off of him and I immediately held him back and found my lips at his throat. It felt like there was something inside of me forcing me through these actions, and as I felt the power flowing through me and the thirst coming back in full force, I didn't want it to stop.


	19. Chapter 19: Sep 3rd, 1921

Hey guys! I just joined Twitter so if any of you want to follow me (I'll post when I'm writing on chapters) then you can follow me at .com/sariea

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 19: September 3rd, 1921**

By now I had become used to the red eyes staring back at me when I passed mirrors or saw my reflection in windows, but I still felt pangs of guilt every time I took a life. Nicki was a real party animal so we went out almost every night, making our rounds of the different hangouts so that we weren't at the same place multiple nights in a row, drawing attention to ourselves or the disappearances that followed. Some nights we didn't even kill anyone and just went to enjoy ourselves, but that was rare.

I had come to realize in the months after waking up as a vampire that the things I saw in the visions I got could be avoided simply by removing myself or both of us from the situation. Usually if we didn't kill anyone it was because I'd had a vision of a bad result, and luckily no one had caught onto us because of this. It wasn't really anything we _had _to worry about. If we were arrested, we were strong enough to get ourselves out. And we could always just leave and go somewhere else, but we preferred not to. So we were careful. And I had a feeling that Nicki had probably never been careful before I came along.

Today was exactly a year since I had woken up in the woods and I was feeling particularly grateful for having found such a friend in Nicki, who I felt cared more for me than any friend could. But at the same time, I couldn't remember ever having friends.

Nicki skipped into the house through the back door. She had been out in the backyard that was almost completely isolated by trees. "Happy anniversary!" She said in a sing-song voice.

I smiled from where I sat on the couch. The floor of the living room was so damaged—the main reason the house was dubbed unlivable—but Nicki skipped across, her feet landing on the beams instead of between where she would fall through. It was like watching a professional ballet dancer... I could only hope I looked as graceful.

Nicki reached behind a bookshelf that leaned against the wall and pulled out a medium-sized box. Plopping down beside me, she placed the box in my lap. "I got it a few days ago."

Laughing at how silly she was being, I opened the box and lifted out the light blue silk dress that layed inside. "Nick, it's beautiful! How much was it?"

Nicki leaned back and shrugged. "How should I know?"

I looked at her, surprised.

She laughed. "You can't possibly think I paid for that! I love you, Alice, but I don't spend money unless I'm around 'normal' people." She made air-quotes. "I saw it on a mannequin in the window of that dress shop downtown a couple weeks ago, and went back the other night for it."

I continued to stare at her.

She waved her hand at me. "No one's gonna even notice it's gone. It was just collecting dust. It'll be put to much better use on you than on that plastic woman."

Still not sure if I was comfortable with her stealing a dress that probably cost at least a hundred dollars or two, I just couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She stood back up and headed off into another room of the house. "I'm gonna go see if I can start some trouble." She called back to me, which usually meant I wouldn't see her for a few hours.

I looked down at the blue silk in my hands and almost immediately felt like I was being transported to a different place. I brought my eyes up from the silk and saw that I was sitting in the same diner that I'd seen in one of the first visions I could remember. Looking back down at my lap, I saw that I was wearing the silk dress. The bell over the door chimed and I saw that same man stop a few feet away from me. From what I could remember, this part went fast, but this time it was slower... slow enough for me to really notice how handsome he was with his honey blond hair. And when his eyes met mine I felt a warmth flow through my heart that I'd never felt before and I knew at once that I wanted this future to happen.


	20. Chapter 20

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 20**

It was late, and Nicki had run off somewhere, so I decided I would go out by myself.

As I stepped out into the evening air, I felt strong, unstoppable, and irresistible wearing a dark red cardigan sweater and a brown skirt that matched very well.

I walked down the street, houses to my left, a batch of trees leading into a park at my right, and inhaled deeply. Right away I picked up the scent of blood and it was deliciously enticing. I closed my eyes and followed it into the park. Every muscle in my body was tense but I moved slowly and calmly, and just over a hundred yards into the park, I found them.

A young couple sat on a blanket in the grass. _Having some sort of moonlit picnic, probably. _Still hidden by some trees, I instinctively crouched low to the ground. The woman kept looking around for something but the man seemed pretty laid back and I heard him say "Stop worrying, let's just have a good night. She's fine."

My fingers curled against the bark of the tree I was closest to—I was itching to get a taste—I had no interest in what the woman was worried about. The only thing about her situation that I cared about was that whatever she was worrying about was distracting her... and it was distracting him. This would be too easy.

Behind me a twig snapped and I turned in an instant, still low to the ground. Before me stood a little girl with shiny bronze-colored hair that fell almost in ringlets. Her skin seemed to glow in the moon light, and the sight of her froze me to the spot. "Where are you?" I heard a faint call which didn't come from me, and hadn't come from her. Her lips hadn't moved, and the voice was too mature to have come from her tiny body. Smiling, she giggled and reached a little hand up and touched my face.

"Where are you?" I heard again.

Suddenly I was back at the tree, staring out over the grass at the couple, who were now standing. The woman was calling out into the night. I blinked a few times, confused, and even for a moment unaware of where I was and what I was doing. Before I could register anything, I was leaning over their bodies in the field, having killed them both, my lips to the man's neck.

His blood was so warm, and when I closed my eyes I could see the man with curly blond hair that I'd been seeing in my visions. He was wandering, a strange expression in his eyes. The vision was so brief, and I was still so confused... All of the questions filled my head as I opened my eyes and sat back onto the ground. Who was this man I kept seeing in my head? Who was the little girl? And why did she seem so familiar?

Looking up from the two people who lay in front of me, I noticed in the distance a small set of swings meant for children to play on. I got to my feet and walked over to the swings, a breeze blowing past and making my skirt flutter against my calves. There was something on the ground at the base of the right swing. As I grew closer I could see that it was a child... a little girl in a dress, and she had blood on her where a vampire clearly had gotten her.

This was the girl I had seen only a moment ago, but she was grey, her skin no longer glowing, her hair not as curly. But it was her.

Back at the house, I sat on the couch, staring into space. The events of the evening left me completely confused and wishing I could understand what happened. Was the girl I'd seen real? Did I kill the little girl under the swings?

Putting my hands up to my face to brush my hair away, I noticed they were shaking. While look at them, Nicki came into the room, energetic from wherever she had been tonight.

She sighed. "I love it here. Did you have as great a night as I did?" Nicki looked at me now and realized something was wrong. "What happened?" She sat next to me on the couch.

"I think.... I think I killed a child tonight." I choked out.

Her eyes shifted around the room. "Okay...? What do you mean you _think _you killed a child?"

"I had this vision, and--"

"Wait a second," She stood up and turned to look down at me, her hands on her hips. "Why are you upset about killing a child? Blood is blood. I do it all the time. I mean, even tonight--" Nicki stopped, I assumed, when she saw the look on my face. "What? It's not really a big deal. Sometimes I prefer veal to steak."

"That's a disgusting analogy." I muttered.

She shrugged. "'S true." After a minute Nicki rolled her eyes and sat back down next to me. "Tell me what happened."

"I was watching this couple in the park tonight and all of a sudden this little girl was behind me, it was so weird--"

"In the park tonight? What did she look like?" Nicki interrupted. I gave the description and asked why because she looked like she was thinking. She shook her head. "Nothing, keep going."

"It was almost like I was... blacking out... one moment I'm behind a tree, the next moment they're dead and then I saw her under the swings... There was a playground near there." I explained, still trying to make sense of it all. "I just can't seem to remember if I killed the little girl, everything was so quick. I've never experienced that before."

"Oh... well..." Nicki hesitated then patted my knee. "It'll be fine." She stood up and headed towards the other room.

"But what if it's not fine?" I said. "I mean, two people dead could just be a... a mugging, but a little girl, too? What if they find out about us because of me?"

Nicki rolled her eyes again. "You're overreacting. First of all, we're strong enough to take on anybody that would come after us _in case you've forgotten. _Second of all, who on earth would see three people killed and think 'My God, it must be vampires!'? People would think that person was insane."

"I just don't know if I can stay here, knowing what I've done..."

"Whether you're here or... I don't know, _Texas, _you still killed a child. It's going to bother you just the same no matter where you go." Was the last think Nicki said to me before she completely left the room.

Staring down at the floor, I just kept replaying the night in my head. Then I remembered the other vision I'd had. I kept seeing that man over and over in visions, there had to be a reason. Concentrating more on the one of him tonight, I remembered that he looked like he was searching for something. He had seemed so lost, it made me sad to think of it now. He was so lonely...

A moment later, I remembered the vision I'd had a few times, of him in the diner, where I'd been waiting for him. A plan quickly came together in my mind. This man, whoever he was, had no idea what he was looking for, but I already knew that it was me he would find. Why should I sit here and wait for that to happen when I already knew it was coming?

The least I could do is meet him half way.


	21. Chapter 21: Nicky

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 21: Nicki**

I had been sitting on the mattress on the floor in the other room when Alice came in and told me of her plans to leave. I know I tried my best to talk her into staying, but she wouldn't get over the whole 'dead kid' thing.

She spent an hour packing all of her clothes and in that time I tried to figure out what to do. Alice was just so wracked with guilt and now seemed to have a purpose. Because of this purpose it almost put the guilt on the back burner.

I had my doubts of whether this guy she kept 'seeing' was real, but who was I to kill her dreams? Plus, if it got her thinking about something else then maybe it would be a good thing she was planning to leave.

Don't get me wrong. I felt nothing for that little girl being dead, and it didn't bother me one but that I had killed her and not Alice... But Alice had become the closest thing to a friend I had and, being in the vulnerable state she was in, maybe I should go with her to protect her.

Getting up and walking across the hall to where she was packing, I stood in the doorway. "Maybe I'll go with you." I said, testing for her reaction. When she started to smile, I grinned back. "It'll be like a road trip!"

"Really? Are you sure?" Alice still had a hopeful smile on her face. "You just came in the house saying how much you love it here..."

I shrugged back. "I do, but I've also been here a while and I think it'd be exciting to see new places. It's been ages since I've traveled."

"Oh, Nicki. I'm so glad you've decided to go with me." She was very excited.

After another minute or two of us stating how 'happy' we were, I went back to my room to pack my things. In my years as a vampire I had been to many places across the country so I felt good about going with her. I'd be sure to keep her away from the places I knew to be trouble. And through my run-ins with other vampires in my past, if they were still alive anyway, we might be able to meet up with some of them—or avoid them, depending on who it was.

My past hasn't been as squeaky clean as most would believe. I've made enemies and been in the middle of fights that ended badly... We wouldn't head northwest too much because I knew there were still other vampires that would kill me on sight, not to mention the werewolves I'd run into so many years back.

One vampire, in particular, I don't think I would ever be able to forget. His name was Claude and he had been so romantic. I had met him in northern Washington state, where the clouds made it possible for us to walk among the humans most of the time. He was so handsome with his dark black hair and, even for a vampire, almost tan complexion. Claude was originally from Italy and he told me he had come over to the States to rule as a kind of vampire king. He had built quite a large following by the time I met him, and when asked why he didn't build his army in Italy, he told me of the Volturi for the first time, and how they would stop any vampire army if they found out about them. He thought it would be safer in America.

So I followed him.

It didn't take long for us to become lovers, and his followers regarded me almost like a queen. Anything I said was rule, as long as Claude didn't contradict me, and he rarely did. I had my own unofficial group of girls that were assigned to attend me, to make sure I was happy while Claude was away recruiting. Those girls had been more like my friends at times, and we liked to stay out late and enjoy ourselves, much like now.

The night of our 3rd year anniversary as a couple, I had been upset because Claude made it clear that it was more important to keep building his army and that he would have no time to spend with me. I had become resentful to the fact that it had been 3 years since we met and his "army" had gone nowhere. They were more like just an underground community of vampires than anything else.

The girls had coaxed me into going out with them, saying they knew this place in the woods that was a new hangout for vampires and that I would like it. I followed the five girls out there and was surprised when they brought me to an empty field that had spots of burned grass. They had been surprised as well, and tried figuring out amongst each other what had happened to what they had experienced before in that field. It didn't take long to find out.

From behind us, werewolves emerged from the trees, growling low in their throats. We were strong, but since my friends were my attendants and not fighters in the army, they had not been properly trained. They were taken down quite fast and I was left to watch while four out of the seven werewolves turned into human men and burned my friends bodies. The three remaining werewolves surrounded me and the men walked up between them. They were all dark-haired and dark-skinned, my first encounter with this kind of creature.

One of the largest of them spoke. "Tell me why we should allow you to live, Nicolette."

I was shocked. "How do you know me?"

The other three humans remained silent, as did the werewolves, while this man spoke to me. "We've been following your army for years, even before you came. This is our land and we will not allow you to take over."

"It-It's not my army." I said. He began to advance on me slowly, and said nothing, allowing time for the death of my friends to sink in... how they ripped their limbs from their bodies and set them on fire. Suddenly I was aware that they meant to kill me the same way, and I knew I didn't want to die. A plan came into my mind. "I can tell you where the leader is. You can take him down and the rest will fall."

The man laughed and the others behind him chuckled. "From what we see, you are a leader as well as Claude. Why should we not get rid of you both?"

"I'll leave and never come back. I swear! I'll tell you exactly where he is and you can go kill him, then your problem will be solved, they will have no one to take orders from. And you can keep me til you find him, so you know I'm telling the truth!" Inside, I grinned to myself. I had every confidence that Claude would be able to take down as many werewolves as he needed to, and he would not be alone in the fighting.

So the man took my deal and kept me in that field that night, while four of the werewolves were sent out to where I told them Claude would be, and we waited. It was mere hours before they returned, and I was surprised to see them all basically untouched. They stopped in front of me and the other werewolf-men, and one wolf nodded.

It was done.

My unbeating heart sank as I heard one man tell another how it had been easy to take Claude down, and how the others were already scattering. They allowed me to go, on the condition that I never return, and I dragged myself through the forest, hoping they had gotten the wrong vampire. To be sure, I went back to the community and saw for myself that the wolves had been telling the truth.

Before they could notice I was there and look to me as their new leader, I ran south and never came back.


	22. Letter from the writer

Hi everybody... I just wanted to write a quick note about the status of my stories. Like many of you probably do, I hate it when someone doesn't finish a story they started. I promise you, I am continuing to write in both of my stories and am constantly thinking about Uncaging Alice and where it's going. I know a lot of you are leaving reviews asking me to update because I haven't in a while.

When I started putting my stuff up on , I never imagined that anyone would like my stories, and the reason why the first part of Alice came out so fast was because when I started my account I had the first 5 or so chapters already written, and also because I had already planned up until her becoming a vampire. That part of the story was a little easier because I had more information to go on from the actual Twilight books.

The time between Alice becoming a vampire and meeting Jasper is quite a few years and there is almost nothing that we've been told that happened during that time with Alice. It's difficult to come up with something that will be well written, entertaining, and believable all at the same time, and I try very hard to make the story all of those things because I know you guys are quick to tell me if I've gotten something wrong ;)

I know you all want more chapters, and I would post a chapter every day for you guys, but it would be complete crap. Right now I'm working on the next chapter and trying to still figure out where I want the story to go, how I want things to go with Nicki, how I want to get Alice to where she needs to be, but it's not all going to happen in one, two, or even three chapters. It's taking this long because I want to give you guys something you'll enjoy reading. So I really do apologize that it's taking so long, but I don't want to just give you crap chapters.

I'm really really hoping to get the next chapter up by early next week.

Thanks guys, you don't know how much I appreciate all the great comments on the story!


	23. Chapter 22

Okay you guys here's chapter 22. I wanna let you know in a few days I'm going to be going into the hospital for a few weeks or maybe more so I don't know how much free time I'm going to have to write. The good news is that I have a rough outline for the rest of the story so hopefully that'll help me move right along with it. Again, thanks for all the support and I hope you guys like the chapter.

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 22**

Nicki and I traveled for months before we finally decided to stop in New York City. Normally it wouldn't have taken us so long to get to the city but we made several stops along the way to places that Nicki had been to before, and we really had no target destination.

Entering the city, I was amazed at how large and busy it was .The sun was mostly shadowed by all the large buildings and the majority of the people roaming the streets looked wealthy, which was strange because we were in the middle of the way they were calling a depression. The streets were lined with bakeries and artisan shops like I had never seen before. Many of the people were cleaning out their homes and shops in the springtime air while others shopped and stopped to gossip with each other.

Nicki had said she had an old friend in the city that she hadn't seen for a while, which was the main reason for stopping here. I hadn't had many visions lately of the man I was looking for—and if I did, they didn't give me any clues as to where he was or where I needed to be for us to meet.

The two of us walked through the city til we were at a neighborhood with mostly apartment buildings. She led me to a nice, well-kept building at the edge of the neighborhood and opened the door for me. I stepped inside and waited, not know which way we were headed. Nicki passed me and headed towards the stairs, mumbling to herself, "Hopefully he hasn't left, but knowing him..."

I followed her to the 4th floor, where we stopped at a door almost right next to the stairwell. She listened for a second and then knocked. After a brief moment, we heard a soft chuckle and the door opened.

"Nicki," the man standing inside the apartment grinned. He was very handsome—maybe late 30s, average height, dark hair and dark eyes, and a goatee, which made his grin almost mischievous. "To what do I owe the pleasure after all these years?"

Nicki rolled her eyes. "Don't be so pretentious, Raoul. Aren't you going to invite us in?"

"Of course," He said, standing aside. "How rude of me."

Nicki entered first, with me behind her, and as soon as the door closed I felt my hand being taken. Spinning around to look, Raoul pressed his lips to my hand and looked up at me through his dark lashes from where he was still leaning over my fingers.

"Enchante, mademoiselle," He said in a kind, low voice. "And what is your name, my dear?"

Nicki groaned.

"Alice," I replied, slowly slipping my hand from his grip.

He stood straight, making himself look important. "A pleasure to meet you, Alice." He turned to walk into the living room, adding, "...Nicki."

I hid a laugh behind my hand. The two of them interacting with each other was slightly amusing because I could tell right off the bat that they were great friends who liked teasing each other.

The apartment was very clean and upscale, and the decor was mostly white with some browns and greens. Sitting onto the white couch, Raoul reminded Nicki, "You still haven't said what brings you here."

"No reason, really." Nicki shrugged, sitting in a chair across from the couch. Unsure of what to do, I sat on the couch. "Alice and I are traveling and I haven't seen you in years."

Raoul folded his hands in his lap. "Traveling anywhere in particular?"

Nicki looked at me and, seeing her cue, so did Raoul. When I didn't say anything, she jumped in. "We're just looking for someone."

"Ah," He smiled pleasantly back at Nicki. "Anyone I know?"

"Doubt it." She replied shortly. "It's not someone either of us have ever met. We don't even know his name."

The completely baffled look on Raoul's face spurred me on to further explain the situation. After going through the whole story of waking up in the forest, without a memory, being alone for a time, the visions, and everything else that brought me to where I was at this moment, he didn't look any less confused.

"That's wild." He said after a moment. Then he shrugged and said "I don't think I know anyone that meets that description. But if you think he's in New York, you're more than welcome to stay as long as you need. Mi casa es su casa."

I heard Nicki give a quiet "Ugh."

Hiding another laugh, I thanked him.

The next months living with Nicki and Raoul flew by pretty quickly. Still feeling haunted by the little girl I'd killed, I rarely went out with them to feed and opted to go out by myself to find animals—which didn't taste nearly as good but also did not come with so much guilt.

One evening while they were gone, I was in the bedroom that Raoul had lent to me during our stay, going through my clothes. Everything was packed into a large suitcase that Nicki had gotten me before we'd left New Orleans. At the bottom of the suitcase I felt something cold and metal and pulled it out. I had not seen my bracelet for a long time. The silver metal sparkled under the lamp light of the room as I brushed my thumb over my etched name.

Upon touching my name, my vision became blurry, and I could faintly hear a conversation as the living room of a house I had never seen before materialized in front of me.

A very pretty blonde sat on a couch across from me, settled underneath the muscled arm of a large handsome man. "Alice, you two should do this, too." The blond was saying to me, smiling.

I heard myself laugh and say "We don't need to get married a hundred times, once is enough for us." I could feel someone next to me but was unable to turn to see who was there. I could only see what was in front of me.

"Give it up, Rose." the man with his arm around the girl laughed.

A light brown haired woman standing more towards the back of the room with a vase full of assorted flowers to her right and a tall blond man to her left, smiled over to us. "I'm sure you'll have a good time without them, Rosalie. You always enjoy getting remarried."

Looking past the woman, I glimpsed a dark haired brooding boy around my age that sat at a piano just before the room I stood in came back to me. Lowering my head to look at the bracelet I still held in my hand, I smiled to myself and wondered. "I think that's my family..."


	24. Chapter 23

Hi All! Wanted to let you know I'm still in the hospital for probably another couple weeks but had the rare chance today to sit down and write some. Good news: the end is in sight and after this chapter there will be probably 3 more. Bad news: I have no idea when I'll get the next chance to write. The last 3 chapters will go probably pretty fast as far as what happens, I just have to figure how to word them.

EDIT: okay! Lesson learned! I need to re-read previous chapters before I go and start renaming characters altogether and messing up the continuation LOL! Sorry about the double post. THIS chapter 23 is correct.

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 23**

One evening after a few months had passed, Nicki went out to hunt while I elected to stay back at the apartment. It seemed to me that Raoul didn't make his decision to stay or go until I'd said what I was going to do. He stayed at the apartment, too.

I did not know how long we would be staying in New York City with Raoul, but I hated having my clothes stuffed into a suitcase getting all wrinkled, so I spent the beginning of my evening unpacking and smoothing out my dresses and other clothes. I had meant to do that one of the first nights but having that vision of that family had shaken me up a bit. Not long after I'd finished hanging my clothes in the closet of the room I'd been given, there was a knock at the half-open bedroom door. Turning, I wasn't surprised to see Raoul leaning against the door frame, smiling.

"May I come in?" He asked politely.

"Sure," I smiled back. "Sorry about the mess." I added, trying to quickly clear a spot so he would be able to sit at the end of the bed if he wanted to.

For now, he chose to remain standing. "So how do you know Nicki?"

"We met in New Orleans a few years ago." I said. "It was just a little while after I was turned. She kind of taught me what it was to be a vampire... I used to go out and party with her a lot but... the reason we left was because I killed a child when I was feeding in the park one night and it just really bothered me... She agreed to come with me since I just couldn't stay there anymore."

"Well that was nice of her..." Raoul remarked.

"What do you mean?"

Raoul shrugged. "I've known Nicki for a really long time and usually when she settles somewhere, she doesn't like to leave. I've known her to leave once because she was forced out... another time because of guilt." He looked up, as if thinking. "Of course, the first time could've been from guilt, too." He shrugged again.

I didn't really know what to say, so Raoul continued. "I do empathize with the whole 'killing a child' thing. That happened to me a long time ago. I didn't really know what I was doing at the time and then it was too late."

"That's how it was with me," I said quietly. "How did you deal with it?"

"For a while I fed off animals because the taste of human blood just made me remember the child I'd killed. Now it's either animals or sometimes I'm able to get blood from the blood bank."

"I never thought of that as an option." I replied. "How do you know Nicki?"

"Well, like I said, I've known her for a really long time. We met years and years ago in Washington. I was newly-turned and found kind of a large group of vampires who allowed me to stay with them. At the time she was pretty close to the leader of the group. His name was Claude. I don't really know all of what happened—she's always refused to tell me—but one day Claude was killed by werewolves and everyone panicked and ran off in all directions. I remember hearing talk that it was Nicki's fault but I could never believe that because I knew how much she'd loved Claude." Raoul paused. "I didn't see her for a long time and then one day she showed up needing a place to stay for a while. Then she took off and this it he first time I've seen her since."

"Wow..."

"You have to be a little cautious with her, though. She's a really good friend, but she'll do whatever she needs to do to make herself look good." Raoul said. "Usually it's just little things... lying to save face... things like that. But she's a good friend."

I was a little confused. I couldn't recall Nicki ever being like that with me. She always seemed like such a good friend. Always thinking of me, getting me things, like that blue silk dress. But I had to trust what Raoul was saying because he had known her so much longer than I had. While I was thinking about everything Raoul had just told me, he sat down on the end of the bed in the room. "Nicki didn't stay very long the last time she was here, but I know she likes the city a lot. I bet she's glad to be back, even if it's only for a short while." He looked out the window at the night sky.

Studying is face for a brief moment, I could see a sadness—or maybe a loneliness—had settled over his handsome features. As to why, I could not say, and I did not feel as if I knew him well enough to ask. "Do _you _like it here?" I hear myself ask instead.

Bringing his attention to me, he shrugged and gave a half-hearted smile. "It's lively enough where I can go out at night and it's not considered abnormal. I know this place and I have no reason to think I'm in danger. There are others in the city but I mostly keep to myself. In my life before becoming a vampire, I taught English and reading to children. I still prefer to pass my time by becoming wrapped up in a good book, and there's always something new to learn."

His answer was sad to me and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Don't you miss the excitement of being around other vampires?"

At this, Raoul chuckled. "You're young, yet." He reasoned. "Once you find some place, or someone, that's a fit for you, you'll settle down and you'll understand. It's not so much that you lose the excitement of the hunt and blood lust. It's more that you feel you can rest. You no longer need to go to night clubs with Nicki in order to just pass the time. You can just sit with that someone, or just be at that place you'll call home, and you'll know that is how you want to spend the rest of your long long existence."

A quiet stretched between the two of us and then he smiled at me once more before getting up and heading for the door. In the doorway, he stopped, but did not turn to look back to me. "Nicki has done too many things that she feels she can never make up for. For that reason, she will never be able to find her true home, and she will never be able to rest... I know she is your friend but my hope for you is that you don't become like her... My hope for you is that you move on and spend your life being happy... So few of us are."

With that said, Raoul left.


	25. Chapter 24

Nothing much to say except for that I hope you enjoy the last 3 chapters of Uncaging Alice. They're coming up quick!

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 24**

We stayed with Raoul for several uneventful months in New York City and most of the time it was the two of us together while Nicki was out, either because she was hunting or because she just could not sit still. In those months, I came to know Raoul very well and to really enjoy his company. He could be quirky at times, and I liked that.

Raoul and I were playing a game of chess—something he had taught me weeks ago—when Nicki walked into the apartment. Both of us looked up from our game to find this great look of boredom on her face. "It's no fun, anymore, Alice." She said. "You haven't gone out with me since we left New Orleans and now you two are like best friends and it makes me lonely." There was a slight whine to her voice.

Raoul, who had his back to her, turned in his seat and rested his right arm over the back of his chair. "I apologize, Nicki." He said in a fatherly tone. "What would you like us to do?"

Nicki folded her arms over her chest. "i want us all to go out together. Maybe to the park or something. Just hang out. Maybe we'll run into some of the vampire friends that I met. I don't know! I just wanna go out with both of you!"

"Hm..." Raoul sat there for a second, and I knew he was thinking about the vampire "friends" Nicki was referring to. From what we knew, they were more wild that she was and that always made him pause when she brought them up. "Alright," He finally said, getting to his feet. "It _is _nice for a February night, after all. Why waste it? I'll be back in a moment." Raoul left the room, heading for his study that also acted as his bedroom.

Following his lead, I also stood and went to get changed. I decided to finally wear the blue silk dress that Nicki had gotten me, thinking it might cheer her up a bit to see me in it. Over that, I slipped on a long grey-blue coat that reached down to just below my knees, and opted for my favorite black flats that somewhat resembled ballet shoes.

Minutes later we were walking down the streets of the neighborhood, heading towards the local park, since Nicki had again suggested that we go there. I had a knot in my throat about setting foot into the park—I hadn't been to one since I had killed that little girl—and I was extremely uneasy about it. But I said nothing; this was supposed to be Nicki's night. Upon entering the park, panic rose into my chest. I didn't know why I expected this park to look drastically different than the other one. After all, parks are usually lots of grass and trees with the scattered play areas for children. This park was empty, and the only difference was that in the area we were in, there stood a boulder about twice as tall as me and large all the way around, and it had a sculpture of a little boy playing on top of it. About twenty yards to the right of the boulder was a fire pit that people use for picnics in the park. Embers still burned in it... a homeless person had probably been trying to stay warm.

I'm not sure if Raoul felt me become tense beside him, but he put a hand on my shoulder. "Alice?"

Nicki, who had been strolling along in front of us, stopped to look back now. "She's fine, Raoul."

"I don't think she is."

Although her expression remained calm, I saw Nicki's hands clench into fists at her side. "This will be good for her, Raoul. She has to face it some time."

"Face what, Nicki?! It can be hard for some of us who still have a little _humanity _left! Killing a child isn't always something you just get over!" He was getting angry, something I had never witnessed in him before.

All I could do is stay silent.

Now she looked angry. "What, are you protecting her? Alice! Alice!" She yelled, moving to stand between us and the boulder. "It's always about poor little Alice. She's _crazy, _Raoul!"

"Nicki..." He replied quietly in a warning tone.

"No!" Her eyes shifted to me. "What are we even doing here, Alice?! We're chasing a _vision_! You don't even know who we're looking for!"

Raoul stepped in front of me but said nothing. I don't know if he saw the same thing I saw or not, but to me it looked almost like Nicki's red eyes became even more red with anger.

"Maybe I'm the crazy one," She continued, letting out a hysterical laugh. "Maybe it's me, 'cause I was insane enough to follow you! Or maybe I was just _stupid,_ thinking I had to make it up to you for killing that girl that night!"

"What?" said Raoul, a low growl escaping his throat.

"Yeah." A proud smile spread over her lips. "It was me, Alice. I was in the park that night, too. I saw you, feeding on those two people... and then I saw her all alone on the swings. She looked soo delicious. And you know what? She was."

Before I knew what was happening, Raoul lunged at Nicki, catching her off guard and slamming her up against the boulder.

I stepped back slowly, pain and confusion tearing through my body as I watched while Nicki screamed and Raoul tore her apart in a rage. It wasn't until I saw one of her arms land on the burning embers of the first pit that I knew—I couldn't stay here any longer.

So I turned, and I ran.


	26. Chapter 25

One more chapter to go after this!

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 25**

I could have run forever and gone so far on my feet with just my speed as a vampire, but I need to slow down, and I needed to think. I ran through the busy streets of the city and stopped inside a train station.

Standing just inside the entrance to the main lobby, a couple passed me, arguing quietly.

"I wish your mother would have said she was coming here for your birthday _before _we got our tickets to her place." The woman said angrily, pulling a suitcase along behind her.

"Just get a refund!" The man replied, frustrated.

"That line is ridiculously long, I'm not standing in it for a few bucks!" The woman tossed the two tickets toward the trash can next to the door, only one of the tickets making it in.

After they exited the building, I picked up the ticket that lay on the floor, only looking to see which train to get onto, not even caring about the destination. The signs above the tunnels shooting off from the lobby told me exactly where to go to find this train.

Walking through the many people that filled the lobby, I made my way to a tunnel just off to the left, passing people sitting on benches, waiting for relatives or friends to arrive. Some people even sat on the floor against the wall, mostly reading or waiting, but on the way to my tunnel I heard a child sniffling and a responding "shh, it'll be okay."

Down against the wall, a woman was sitting with a little girl on her lap, rubbing her arms and trying to get her to stop crying. "Daddy won't hurt us anymore," the woman whispered. Besides the girl, I was the only one who heard. "You'll see, we'll go live with grandma and everything will get better."

The girl continued to cry quietly and sniffle. A twinge of sadness flowed through me. Moving from where I stood about fifteen feet away from them, I crouched down and looked at the little girl. "Hey, now... why are you crying?" I said in my softest voice possible.

She looked at me, sniffling again. When she remained quiet, I thought maybe my eyes were scaring her. But then she squeaked, "I'm cold."

"Oh, no!" I frowned. I had already noticed that she only had just a t shirt on along with her jeans. "What happened to your coat?"

The girl wiped at her eyes with a tiny hand. "My daddy wouldn't let me have it when we were leaving."

"Sh." The older woman, her mother, said, looking embarrassed.

"Well, here." I stood just long enough to pull off my coat and fit it over the little girl's back, pulling it around her like a blanket. "This will keep you nice and warm until you can get your coat back." I smiled at her.

"Oh, no, we couldn't." The mother said, flustered. "You'll freeze."

"It's okay." I answered. "The cold doesn't bother me, and I would rather your daughter not catch a cold or worse." I smiled one last time at the girl, who looked awed, and continued to my train tunnel. Behind me I heard a "thank you!" and a "she was pretty, mommy."

Finally getting to the correct train, I found a seat in the nearly empty car and sat at the window. Now it all started to hit me. Nicki was gone... I had thought she was my friend for years but what friend would let me carry guild for so long over something I didn't even do? The gentle and kind Raoul I had come to know had killed her because she had hurt me.

All I could think of were the times I would pass the closed door of Raoul's book-filled study to hear him reading aloud and giving the characters in the book funny voices. I knew he always knew I was there because I would always end up laughing, and thinking about it now, maybe he did that just for me... because I rarely laughed any other time. I would always remember Raoul that way.

But now, here I was, alone again. Sitting on a train to who knows where, wondering what I'll do next. I looked around to see only about four other people in the same train car as me, and knew we had been moving for at least thirty minutes now.

I went to touch my bracelet and realized I had forgotten to put it on. Maybe that was a good thing. I no longer needed it, I knew who I was, and maybe the more I could leave behind, the better. _I never want to go back_, I thought. _I never want to lose control over myself the way Nicki did. _I didn't want to just roam for the rest of my life. I wanted to find that man... and I wanted to find that family I had seen a few times in my visions. Maybe that's where I would finally fit in.

The train screeched as it came to a stop, the passing of time escaping me, and I stood with the rest of the passengers, to see where I had ended up.


	27. Chapter 26

Well, everybody. This is it. The last chapter. I know it's probably shorter than you'd like it to be, but I think the story came out nicely and I am proud of it. I want to thank everyone who has left reviews for the story, everyone who stayed patient all these months while I fought through personal stuff and then writers block to get this finished!! As always, I hope you enjoy it!

**Uncaging Alice**

**Chapter 26**

I exited the train, stepping onto a platform that held a sign that read: Philadelphia, PA. I hadn't traveled too far from New York City, but this is where the ticket had gotten me, so I set out on foot.

I was only slightly aware of the looks I was getting as I walked through the streets of this town. A brief thought broke through all the others, reminding me that I must look out of place walking along in a blue silk dress while everyone else wore long heavy pants and thick coats to keep out the cold of the season. I didn't care, they could look all they want. I continued to walk along. I don't know how long it was that I trudged through the streets, looking more at my feet than anything else.

For some reason that I cannot understand, I stopped. It was a sudden stop that jolted me out of my thoughts, and made me look up.

I was standing in front of a place that had a big bright sign, lighting up the dark sky around it. It said "Jenny's Diner", and I stared at it for a long moment before I felt my feet begin to move towards the front door. The bell over the door rang as I entered, and the warmth of the kitchen surrounded me.

There weren't many people sitting in the booths along the front windows of the diner. There were maybe three. A lanky brown haired woman that wore an apron stood behind the counter, wiping her hands on a dish towel. When she saw me, her eyes widened. "You must be freezing!" She hurried around from behind the counter and touched my arm, ushering me to a seat. "Oh, dear, you're ice cold! Let me get you some tea!" The woman said before disappearing through the kitchen door.

A moment later she hurried out with a cup of tea, steam rising up from the mug. She set it in front of me. "Thank you," I said, putting my hands on it. I could drink it if I needed to, but I was hoping I wouldn't need to.

"You're welcome," The woman smiled genuinely at me. "I'm Jenny, what's your name?"

"Alice."

"Where are you from, Alice?" She leaned on the counter.

Unsure of what to say, I just said "New York City."

Jenny's eyes lit up. "Wow! It must be exciting there. I've never been. What brings you to Philadelphia?"

Again, I'm unsure of what to say. Absolutely nothing brought me to this exact place, and I surely couldn't tell her what had happened to make me run. "I'm looking for family." I finally answered.

"Do they live around here?"

"Hey, Jenny!" Another diner called from where he sat in a booth by the window. I didn't have to worry about coming up with a reply to her question because she hurried over to talk to that customer. I let out a sigh of relief as the bell above the door jingled.

A young man that looked about twenty years old walked into the diner, looking around, almost as if he was lost. For a split second I could have sworn that my dead heart that fluttered at the sight of him. Tall, with blond curly hair, this was the man I had seen so many times in my visions.

Standing so close to me now, I could see that crescent-shaped scars covered his body, but it didn't make him any less beautiful to me. When the door shut behind him, our eyes met, and I got up from the stool I had been sitting on. I stopped about an arms length from him.

Kindly, I said, "I've been waiting a long time for you to arrive."

A look of bewilderment fell across his face but his eyes held a little intrigue. After a moments hesitation, he ducked his head like a southern gentleman would, and answered, "I'm sorry ma'am."

Smiling, I reached out and offered him my hand. A strange feeling flowed through the air in the diner, making me feel hopeful, and also making me feel like I had not been hopeful in a very long time.

When his hand slid into mine, the air changed and I looked into his eyes, confused.

He was smiling back at me. "Sorry," He said. "Sometimes my emotions get the best of me." He motioned to the air in the diner. "I'm trying to learn to control it."

I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I'm Alice."

The man ducked his head again. "Jasper."

"I think there is a family out there waiting for us. Would you like to come with me, Jasper?"

Instead of saying anything, this time Jasper squeezed _my _hand and turned sideways so he could open the door for me.

And with that, we left to go find the family I knew would accept Jasper and me, the bell above the diner door jingling happily behind us.

**The End**


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